Faith
by rosenotrosie
Summary: Itachi is framed and has to flee to Kiro, village hidden in the mist, where he meets main character Unosuke. Eventually yaoi, shonen ai, slash, ect. ItachixOC. ON HIATUS. detailed in ch. 16
1. Chapter 1 Edited

**AN: Ok, this is the edited version of chapter one/!. The reason I'm editing it is because I was re-reading it and I figured out that there were quite a few problems. The main difference will be in the tense of the story (past, present, future) and a few what I like to call clerical errors (parts of the story where it directly conflicts with itself). Anyway, if you've already read the original version you don't have to re-read it, it should be basically the same. Sorry. Two random things I've figured out; the fanfic system switches all my double spaces into singles and it deletes all my asterisks (on the eight key in the letter part of the key pad or above the nine on the number pad.). Also, I may or may not delete the original AN's because a lot of the time the will no longer be** **relevant.**

Disclaimer: I really don't own Naruto, I can't afford it. (This was added in the edited version)

**Chapter 1**

"Rookie, you in position?" Neko asked through the ear radio.

"Hai." (1)I replied. "Inu?" He asked.

"Hai, Neko." She replied.

There was a brief silence before, "On my signal we converge on the target, remember we aren't here to kill or make a statement. Kill only if you are threatened or seen; the goal is to get the girl, not to massacre the kidnappers"

"After the third time I think we got it, right rookie?" Inu replied.

"Hai." I quietly replied, I had only become an ANBU two weeks ago and this was my, hopefully, final mission.

"Enough with the chit chat." Neko paused, "Go."

I ran to the house keeping in shadow as much as possible, slipped in a door and continued to run silently down a hallway. I got to a door at the end of the hallway where I could sense two chakras in the room. I did a few quick hand symbols and then I was in the room and the smoke caused as a result of the transportation justu also served as a smoke screen. I snuck past them effortlessly and continued on to the target; 30 seconds have passed so far. I was almost to where the girl is being kept when I suddenly sensed another person trying to come at me from above. It's a wide hallway so I veered off to the right just as he decided to get off the ceiling to attack me and I turned to fight him since he was now charging at me with a kunai in both hands. I drew my chakra into my hands and we started to fight. He tried to stab me with the kunai in his right hand and I dodged but it turns into a kick that I caught with one hand catching him off guard, I took the opportunity to hit him on the pressure point on the back of his neck, effectively knocking him out. When he hits the floor 45 seconds have passed which makes me a little behind so I have to rush. I get to about thirty feet from the room where the girl is being kept without any further interruption and I can sense five strong chakras and the little girl's. I made a water clone and had it slam through the door first then I go through. I see that I'm the first one through and that in the three seconds it took for me to get through the door my water clone had already taken out one of the men and was working on a second. I did a few hand signs and made three more clones to take care of the remaining three nins while I go for the girl. I picked up the girl, who was blind folded, gagged, and hog-tied and I would have left right then but I felt something was wrong. All five men were unconscious and the clones were waiting for my command and I was about to leave but then I felt it. The girl wasn't real; she was a clone with a henge on her. I immediately stabbed her and she disappeared with a poof while psychically telling the clones to search for the girl but keep watch for a concealed nin. I felt around with my chakra and felt something under my feet. I used the only kunai I kept on me and quickly removed the floor; it wasn't hard since it was wood. It took me a total of two minutes to get into the house, defeat the kidnappers, find the girl (the real one), and leave the house. As soon as I was out I said, "Inu, Neko, I've got the girl, where are you guys"

Inu replied, "Head to the rendezvous point, I'll be there soon."

"As will I." Neko added in.

"Hai." I said and I started to run to the small creek that we had passed on the way here while untying the girl. I took off the blind fold first and said, "Don't worry I'm going to take you home, Ranime. But I have to take you somewhere else first to meet with my team, ok"

I took out her gag and she said, "Thank you." in a very small and dry voice. In about five minutes of jumping from tree to tree we got to the stream and I stopped and undid the rest of her bindings that I couldn't safely get while jumping. When that was done she said, "Thank cough you so much."(2)

Noticing her cough I asked, "Would you like some to see something cool while we're waiting?" She nodded and I walked over to the river and used my kekai genkai (3) to control water to get about a cup of water to float above the water and bring it over to her, she's smiling and then I start to do the real trick I mold and shape the water into the her name and she giggles and then I mold it into a smaller version of her and make it wave to her and she squeals. I make it walk over to me and I pull out a cup and it walks into that and settles, then I hand the cup to her and she quickly says,

"Arigato. (4)" and drinks it all down in one gulp then gives the cup back to me.

I put the cup away and say, "My team mates are here." and then Neko (5) and Inu (6) arrive. Neko is the leader of this mission, wears a dog mask, has really short light green hair, is relatively scrawny, and is relatively quiet. Inu is Neko's opposite; she is loud and abrasive, she has waist length straight bright purple hair, she wasn't fat but she looked it in her standard ANBU garb, she actually has a good body with really nice curves, and she wears a cat mask. They're married and usually do missions alone together (normally prohibited, but they actually make more rational decisions together than they do apart) but they wanted three weeks off for their tenth anniversary so the captain said they had to take the rookie (me) on my last probation ANBU mission.

Anyway, Inu said, "Nice job, rookie."

Neko asked, "Any dead or injured?"

I reported in an emotionless voice, "No dead, six unconscious, no injured. The girl is suffering from dehydration, starvation, and exhaustion."

The previously silent girl said, "What happened to your voice, Nice Lady-chan? And how did you know that?"

Inu snickers and Neko shakes with silent laughter as I turned to Ranime and said in my nice voice, "I'm Unosuke, or Uo-kun for you, and I'm not supposed to show any emotion to them, Ranime-chan." (7) She nods and says oh and turns back to Inu and Neko and I continue in my emotionless voice, "Any problems with you guys?"

They look at each others with a look that screams they're keeping something from me, I make a mental note to ask them about it later, and they both reply, "No." at the same time.

I give them a suspicious look and then say, "Well then, let's get back"

It's only an hour of jumping to get back to Kiro so we leave to go even though it's already midnight. I have to carry Ranime, but that's okay because she's more comfortable with me (so she falls asleep in my arms) and she's pretty only seven, so she's pretty light. We go to her house first and give her to the nanny there. Once we leave Neko says, "I need a report by two tomorrow"

I asked, "Doesn't the leader of the mission usually do those?" Neko gets a look like he's been caught doing something he isn't supposed to and I continue, "What did you guys do while I got the girl, anyway?" Now Inu has the look too.

Neko tries to reply and gives up due to stuttering and embarrassment so Inu takes over while blushing, "We wereoutsidehavingsexinthebushes."

"What?"

"We were outside having sex in the bushes." Inu spits out. They both resemble tomatoes at this point.

I have to stop my self from laughing before saying, "Weren't you guys supposed to be supervising me or something?"

Neko replies, "Yes, however, we've seen how you've handled yourself in training and in previous missions so we assumed that you could handle it on your own." Their blushes are fading and now I can see the spots where they're uniforms look ruffled and Inu was definitely trying to finger comb her hair.

"Well, in that case, thank you for the vote of confidence and when do I become a full fledged member of ANBU and lose all this Rookie crap?" I asked with a new confidence because of the black mail I now have on them.

"I'll see to it in the morning." he yawns, "Well maybe the afternoon when I turn in that report, then I'll do the performance review, but for now lets go home and sleep."

"Thanks." That means by the day after tomorrow I'll be a real ANBU and I'll get a new name. "Good night." I finish and do a transportation jutsu to get to my door. I use a water key (a special key made from ice that is like the ultimate lock because it's not even possible for someone else to have one); go to my room and sleep.

I wake up the next day around noon. I get out of bed take a shower and eat a bowl of ramen and a plum while doing the mission report. It's only one so I run over to Inu and Neko's place and just slide it under the door. Then I head over to my friend's restaurant. I walk in the door and the first thing I hear is my friend yelling "UO!!!"

I know I'm so mean, I cut it off!!! But here are some of the terms that I used that you may not have understood, they correspond to the numbers in the text.

(1) hai-yes

(2) as previously mentioned the system is taking away my asterisks so anything that would have been in asterisks will now be in Italics (doesn't apply if the chap doesn't say edited)

(3) kekai genkai (sp?)-bloodline abilities (like sharingan or byakugan)

(4) arigato (sp?)- thanks

(5)Neko-cat

(6) Inu-dog

(7) When he says that he's Unosuke-kun, the -kun tells the reader and Ranime that he is male. She isn't able to tell that Unosuke is male because of a combination of; all ANBU wear masks (the rookie mask is blank, Inu mask is dog, and Neko mask is cat (cat and dog are the only animals I know how to say in Japanese so if anyone knows any more message me with them) and Unosuke has a build that can either be a flat chested female or a thin male. I pick up all my Japanese through manga, and fanfiction, sorry if it sometimes isn't accurate or doesn't actually say what I think it does.

WOOO HOOOO!!!! I figured out a productive way to deal with my writers block!!!! This chapter was edited 1-4-07


	2. Chapter 2 Edited

**AN: Ok, this chapter edit made it so you should re-read in order to understand the next chapters. Also, I did edit the original AN, not just delete it like I did the first chapter. **

AN: REVIEW!!! Authors with reviews are happy authors!!! Also, there will be a picture of the main character (Uo) on my myspace for anyone who want to see that and all of these stories are also available at under the penname rosenotrosie at the only difference will be that any pictures will also be posted there, the text will be the same. Also, I know I mentioned that this is an ItachixOC story in the summary and I point out in the first chapter that the main char. is a guy but in case you don't get it this is a YAOI story (or eventually will be) so if you don't like it DON'T READ IT!!! As much as I would love a review I don't want a flame, Constructive critique, yes, flame, no. Oops! I almost forgot the disclaimer!

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!!! (The cricket lied, dreams don't always come true)

Thank you and now to the story.

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Chapter 2

Recap: I woke up the next day around noon. I got out of bed to take a shower and eat a bowl of ramen and a plum while doing the mission report. It was only one so I ran over to Inu and Neko's place and just slid it under the door. Then I headed over to my friend's restaurant. I walked in the door and the first thing I heard was my friend yelling "UO!"

So, of course, I yell back, "NAMI!!!" She gives three people their meals and then runs over to me and gives me a friendly tackle/hug.

She lets go and we walk over to the bar, I sit down and she goes back behind it. I ask, "Any interesting people today, Nami?" not because I'm actually curious about her customers but because I like the way she describes people and their problems.

She gives me a look that screams there's someone special today and then yells, "Mine! Can you take over for a while?" Tsumine (aka Mine (pronounced mee-nay)) is Tsanami's (aka Nami) twin sister. I heard a small sure from Mine in the back as Nami comes around the corner and sits next to me. She takes out a mirror and hands it to me, "Can you see the one in the back corner in the blue turtle neck, and black cut offs?" I nodded as I got him in the mirror and she continues, "He won't say where he's from only that his given name is Itachi and that he used to be a ninja. He is incredibly sad and depressed, but also angry. Also, he is incredibly smart, like genius smart not just normal smart."

I listened to her enthusiastic description of this guy's misery and then I realized something, "Why does it sound like you're trying to get me to do something?" I said with a laugh in my voice, she usually has me do something for or with her whenever I happen to have a day off. Ever since she retired from ANBU (only one year ago, she's actually my age, nineteen) she has way too much free time on her hands (her first act of boredom was to start the restaurant).

She has a mock innocent look on her face as she says, "I'm not pushing anything on you, he just asked if I'd show him around town and answer some questions. I would but I have the restaurant to look after so I told him I couldn't but I happen to have a friend who has the rest of the day free since he just got back from his mission and he might be able to?" She says all this and then looks at me with a look that I can't resist, I have to say, she definitely has the puppy dog look down. She loves bugging me about my social and love life since I really don't have any friends except for her and I guess I count Mine as a friend but I'm not nearly as close to her.

I eventually give in to the look and say, "Well, I guess I could since I have nothing else to do today."

She jumps up and yells, "YES!" while hugging me then she grabs my wrist and drags me (literally) over to the corner Itachi happens to be in. We get over there and she looks at Itachi and says, "Hey! Here's the guy who's going to show you around! His name's Unosuke and he's so very nice," she pauses for a moment to catch her breath and then continues in a lower voice, "once you get to know him he lets you call him by one of his many nicknames." and then she just walks away leaving us in silence.

I sit down at his table and try to think of something to say, "Well, what do you want to know about Kiro?" I end up asking trying to make conversation.

He says in this calm, deep voice, "To start off with, where is the nearest inn?"

I looked into his deep ebony eyes and replied, "There is exactly one inn, but it is way over-priced. Any other questions?"

He gives me a look and asks, "Well in that case, do you know of somewhere that I could rent or buy that's preferably cheap?"

"Yeah, usually the person at the front gate just tells the person to go to the Mizukage's tower if they aren't staying with friends because they just assign you a ninja to bunk with in that case..." I reply letting the end trail off.

A fleeting look of well disguised panic crosses his face before he says, "Oh, well I guess they just forgot to tell me that, maybe there was someone new there today. Anyway, is there any way for me to become a ninja for Kiro without actually being from Kiro or even from the land of Waves?" Again he goes back to monotone.

"I think there might be a system but I don't know for sure but that would be something to ask when we go to get you a place to stay. More?"

He shakes his head and we go back to silence so I say, "Well first off let's go to the Mizukage's tower." I walked to the door with him following me and I held the door open for him because I'm a gentleman, not so I could get a better view of his ass. Then I walked next to him (actually a little ahead) through the market. "Here is Kiro's fabulous market place, if you'll just look to the left you'll see the local rice vendor and to our right is the apocathary." I say in a mock tour guide voice trying to make a joke and break the silence. The right corner of his lips turns up a little and I know he appreciates my small attempt at humor. "So where are you from?"

He quickly says, "The mountains to the north." He's obviously lying which only makes me more suspicious.

I frown and as we're passing an alley I grab his arm and drag him in to talk to him in private, "I can tell you're lying so why don't you tell me the truth or I'll personally kick your ass and then drag it to the my good friend who just happens to be an expert in interrogation."

He seems to be a little shocked at my rapid mood swing and then quickly replies, "Fine, but we have to go somewhere more private and you have to help me come up with better lies if I tell you?" Trying to bargain with the person who caught him, interesting.

"Depends." I reply intrigued, "Stand still, I'm going to take you with me in a transportation jutsu." I walk behind him, put my arms around him, let some of my chakra flow in to him and then do the hand signs for the jutsu. We poof into my front room and I let go of him and sit down on my couch and he sits down next to me oddly calm for someone who was just threatened, this lets me know that he definitely used to be a ninja.

"Six years ago I was framed for a crime I didn't do in my home village of Konoha. My real name is Uchiha Itachi and the man who framed me was just using a henge when he killed my whole family, except for my younger brother, Sasuke. I want a government job just to have access to records and look up this guy and avenge my clan. I know he's part of a group called Atsutaki. Anything else you'd like to know?" He said in a very fast whisper.

My mind clicked something from the name Uchiha so I had to ask him, "Do you have the Uchiha doujutsu, and where have you been staying for the last six years."

He thinks for a second and momentarily he looks really sad, "Yes, I have the Sharingan, and I had been staying in the desert surrounding Suna until the Kazekage started to have shinobi patrol the desert in preparation for attacks."

I take that all in and then ask the next thing that pops in to my head, "Why would you willingly tell me this?"

He thinks for a second and replies, "I need an ally if I'm to survive here without being detected."

I was a little shocked that he could trust any one after what had happened to him so I took pity and said, "Well, now you have one." He visibly relaxed (a little) and I continued, "So, now all you need is a better lie."

He got that flash of pain from before and as soon as it went away he replied, "I could say I'm your cousin from a remote village in the desert around Suna."

I thought about it and said, "Sorry, but I don't think that will work because... well... we look nothing alike." In reality all my family was dead and that was what my tattoos were for but this was a much happier reason. "I mean you are milk pale and I'm tanned, you have the some very dark, almost black hair and mine is bright blonde and orange, your eyes are the darkest, deepest black I have ever seen and I've been told mine are the brightest green possible without them being yellow. In short that won't work." I thought for a moment and then said, "We could say you're an acquaintance from when I was junin, when I went for a mission in a remote village in the desert around Suna." I looked at him and said, "Do you think you could show a little more emotion?"

He looked a little shocked for a moment and then asked, "Do I not show enough emotion?"

I nodded and reply, "That was the biggest clue that you used to be a ninja."

He closes his eyes and I can almost see him trying to remember how to do things like smile, laugh and cry. When he opens his eyes I can physically see the mental anguish he goes through. After about two seconds the pain spreads to his face and then most of his body tenses. About three more seconds and he looks like he's going to have a breakdown on my couch. He starts to sob hysterically so I scoot closer to him and hug him like my mom used to do for me. As I rub his back he hugs me back and starts to cry on my chest, so I started to sing a song I had picked up in the place we were saying he was from:

You are my sunshine

My only Sunshine

You make me happy

When Skies are gray

You'll never know dear

How much I love you

So please don't take my sunshine away.

Unfortunately that was the only verse I knew so I started to sing it again as he somehow manages to become slightly more hysterical. After the fourth time he manages to calm down enough to stop crying (for the most part) and he says, "That was the song my mother used to sing while she was cooking..." I get scared that he's going to cry again, but instead he continues and says, "Thank you, you sound almost like her."

I guess that he's calmed down all the way so I get back to business, "Ok, I don't think that it would be a good idea for you to go into government work just because of the off chance that they come across your record one day so do you have any other skills?" He thought for a moment and said, "I can paint... and climb fast... and build things... and cook. But how will I get information on him if I can't personally get it?"

I replied, "Lucky for you I have unlimited access to the government files." He looked happy at that and I continued, "Would you have a problem with working at the place you were in this morning?"

"You mean in the restaurant with that crazy lady?" I nod, "Why not, I've had crazier bosses?"

"Great, so I'll ask Nami about that. Just one more thing, what name did you sign in to the city with?" I ask, it's about five now.

He looks away and says, "I didn't exactly go through the front gate"

I give him a look that screams 'you idiot' and say, "So you snuck in instead of just giving an alias name?" He nods. "Get up, let's go."

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YAY!!! Chapter two edit done!!! Ok this time I think the only odd work I used was Suna, it's just the sand village where Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro come from, and Kazekage is the leader of Suna like Hokage is the leader of Konoha. This chapter was edited 1-2-07 (the first one was too, I just messed up because I was looking at December when I got the date and I don't feel like reposting it again). 


	3. Chapter 3 Edited

AN: Ok peoples, this one wasn't altered much but I don't really think it would hurt to re-read it anyway. Do what you will.

AN: Again people, REVIEW, I realize not that many people will read this but it really helps when people review!!! Reviewing gives an author a much needed dose of inspiration, I actually had this story up to eight chapters but I came to a stop because I had a writer's block due to lack of motivation. So I decided to re-read and I realized that I needed to edit. Anyway, the point of that was to tell you that reviewing prevents writers' blocks, so please take the extra thirty second to review, they REALLY help!!!

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Chapter 3 

Recap: "Great, so I'll ask Nami about that. Just one more thing, what name did you sign in to the city with?" I ask, it's about five now.

He looks away and says, "I didn't exactly go through the front gate"

I give him a look that screams 'you idiot' and say, "So you snuck in instead of just giving an alias name?" He nods. "Get up, let's go."

He stands and I do the transportation jutsu again to about 100 feet away from the gate. "What do you want to be called?"

He seems to think for a minute and says, "Ryonime Itachi."

"Good, now when they ask you reason for visit say you're visiting a friend. If they ask who, they probably won't, but if they do say Kaname Unosuke. If they ask where you met me, again they won't, we met on one of my missions." He nods and starts to walk off so I do another transportation justu to back inside the gate and then walk up to a tree about 15 feet away, I jumped up to a good branch and sat to see him walk up to the gate.

"Hello." He says to the guard.

"Hello, name and reason for visit." He replies in a monotone voice without even looking up from his book.

"Ryonime Itachi, visiting a friend." He writes this down without looking up from his book.

"How long is your visit going to take?" The guard asks in monotone.

"A month or two at least." Itachi replies with out a hitch.

"Are you going to need temporary lodgings during your stay?" He asks while writing something again.

Itachi smiles and says, "No I think I'll be quite comfortable in his home, thank you."

"Enjoy your stay in Kiro." All with out looking up from his book.

He replies "Thank you." and walks over to my tree, "Well, what are you doing up there?"

I look down at him and say in a happy voice, "Waiting for you, of course. I'm so glad you came." I jump down and ask, "Do you want to go back to my place or do you want to go to a restaurant for dinner"

"Let's go to your place so I can clean up and then we'll go from there." He replies in a similar fake happy voice. We start to walk with me leading and when we're far enough from the gate I say, "So what do you want to do now?" in my normal voice.

He goes back to his normal voice, too and says, "Can I stay at your place?"

I look back at him and say, "That was the plan. So, do you want to go to Nami's to pick up some dinner and ask for a job?" He nods so I change my direction a little and we get there in about five minutes.

As I walk in the door I wait to hear her scream again and when I don't see her I walk up to the bar and yell to the back Mine, "Hey, Mine, Nami?"

Mine comes up wiping her hands and says, "Yes, Uo?"

I ask, "Is Nami here?"

"She's on a date, can I help you?" she replies. Mine's nice too, but she's a little older that Nami and she has a little bit of an attitude towards me since we broke up, which I don't really get since it was a very mutual break up.

I think for a minute, "Yes, believe you can." She gives me a look that tells me to keep going. "My friend here, Itachi, needs a job. You wouldn't happen to need an assistant waiter or host or anything would you?"

She smiles and says, "Well, I just fired the only other waitress we had," I guess I got a questioning look so she paused and added in, "she was stealing chopsticks and she was just too... cheerful... I mean the almost creepy kind. So anyway, what experience does he have?"

Itachi fills in at that point, "I used to have a small job in a restaurant back in my home village. I was just a waiter and busboy, but the chef taught me how to cook some basic stuff. That and I've cooked for myself for the last six years."

I look back at Mine and she seems to think about it then says, "You're hired as a waiter/busboy. Be here at 8 tomorrow morning."

I say, "Thanks Mine."

Itachi does a small bow and says, "Arigato, Mine-sama."

"So, now that that's done can we have one Curry Ramen and..." I trail off since I don't actually know what Itachi likes.

"One Beef Ramen." Itachi finishes.

She writes it down and says, "You realize we sell things other than Ramen here?" We nod and she sighs and continues, "For here or to go."

"To go." I reply. As Mine goes to the back I ask Itachi, "Do you want to go get a video?"

He replies, "If it isn't too much trouble."

"No trouble at all," then I yell to Mine, "We're going to go get a video, we'll be back in a minute."

She yells back, "Ok, have fun."

We leave and walk the two blocks to the video store down the street, once we get there and we start to look around. I find a few animes and comedy I walk over to him and find he has the new version of Romeo and Juliet (1) and one of the animes I have. I take Romeo and Juliet from him and start to put mine back while saying, "It's been decided, we're watching Romeo and Juliet." He looks a little shocked but he puts the anime back while I walk over to pay and then we walk back to the shop together. I walk over to the bar and yell, "We're back!"

She walks up holding a plastic bag and says, "Perfect timing, that'll be $3.50."

I hand her a five and she give me my change as I say, "Thanks Mine."

As we're walking back to my apartment I ask, "Was any of what you told Mine about your experience true?"

He smiles a little and replies, "Nothing involving the small job in my home village, but my family used to have a chef and she taught me how to cook. Also, I really have been cooking for myself for the past six years. I think I would go into town for water and supplies about once every three weeks during that time." He frowns a little while saying that but it fades when we get to my door. I make the key and step inside. He follows me and sets down the food on my coffee table then asks, "How did you do that?"

"What?" I ask confused.

"Make the key, you didn't use a jutsu." He replies.

"You're not the only one with blood line abilities." I answer as I put in the DVD.

"So how am I supposed to get in if you aren't home?" He says handing me my food.

I sit down and say, "I didn't think about that, I'll make you one right now. What color would you like?"

He gives me a questioning look and says, "Black."

I go to the kitchen find some graphite and mix it in a bowl with some water. He walks in and I say, "Graphite and water." Then I use the water to condense the Graphite into the key shape. I take a small bottle of a hard finish and cover the key in that, then I get he water to surround the key and make sure the finish didn't alter the shape and dry it faster. After about a minute I hand the key to him, make the water go down the sink and put the remaining graphite back into my jar. "I can control water without using any chakra or jutsu."

He looks a little surprised as he says, "Impressive, even my doujutsu takes chakra." I walk out to the living room, sit on the couch and grab my food. As soon as he sits down I press play.

I finish eating and as they're getting married I pause it and Itachi give me a look that screams 'what the hell are you doing it was just getting good?!?', even though I'm glad that little breakdown has given him the ability to have facial expression again but I really don't appreciate that look. I say, "Don't give me that look; I'm just going to put away the food." He hands me his bowl with a slightly apologetic look and I go to the kitchen and put the remaining ramen down the drain and quickly clean the bowls. When I walk back out there I suddenly figure out, "How am I supposed to look up this guy if I have no idea what he looks like or his name?"

Itachi looks at me and thinks for a minute as I sit down, then he says, "I could show you."

I give him a questioning look and ask, "How?"

"The final form of my doujutsu, the Sharingan, is the Mangekyou and it would allow me to show you what he looks like by projecting the image into your mind."

He looks a little worried though so I ask, "What's the problem with it?"

He looks me in the eye and says, "I normally only use it on enemies to make them live out their worst nightmare. My mastery of it isn't perfect so I might end up showing you the memory attached to him instead of just an image. It's not a happy image at all?"

"Do you have a name I can use instead?" I ask hoping the answer will be yes.

He shakes his head and looks into my eyes as he says, "Now just relax." His eyes suddenly go from black to blood red with what looks likes one, then two, then three teardrops in them, "Ready?" he asks. As I nod the three teardrops become three sided shuriken in them and then everything goes black.

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(1) I don't know if they have TV or DVD's in Naruto's World but in my story they do, along with our music. The Romeo and Juliet version I'm thinking about is the one with Leonardo Dicaprio in 2000 something. Also I'm going to make them use American dollars because I don't know what they use in the manga, probably yen, but I happen to only be familiar with dollars so that's what it's going to be.

Okie doke, peoples, this is the edited version of chapter three, hope you liked it, but I'm not going to change it again even if you didn't. I actually care what you guys think but I'm not even supposed to be on the computer right now. This chapter was edited on 1-2-07.


	4. Chapter 4 Edited

**AN: Ok, the chapter the first part has changed but the second part is basically the same. Also, I didn't mess with the original AN mostly because that particular day really did kick ass and I was really happy to get my first review. Reviews make me very happy, just so you guys know.**

AN: I GOT MY FIRST REVIEWER!!! I didn't get to reply this morning but THANK YOU, HK Keiji, it really made my day. Anyway thanks to him I will now take the extra minute or two to make sure I double space it. Today was just awesome, the only thing of value I did in any of my classes was take notes, we didn't even have to swim today (I'm on swim team at my school so this is good)!!! The point, you ask, getting a review gives the author good luck!!! (I've been doing the cabbage patch in my head all day, it KICKS ASS!!!) PS If any one knows any animals or just random Japanese words that would help with the naming of his ANBU character. Also, I'm sorry this one is a little shorter than usual and the updates will be maybe once a week, if I'm lucky from now on, but I'll do them as often as I can.

Disclaimer: NARUTO ES DE MI!!! Just kidding it belongs to Mashima-sensei... If it did belong to me, well there would be a lot more yaoi and some yuri between Ino and Sakura... Temari would also have a bigger role just due to her awesomeness...

**Chapter 4**

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Recap: He looks me in the eye and says, "I normally only use it on enemies to make them live out their worst nightmare. My mastery of it isn't perfect so I might end up showing you the memory attached to him instead of just an image. It's not a happy image at all?"_

"Do you have a name I can use instead?" I ask hoping the answer will be yes.

He shakes his head and looks into my eyes as he says, "Now just relax." His eyes suddenly go from black to blood red with what looks likes one, then two, then three teardrops in them, "Ready?" he asks. As I nod the three teardrops become three sided shuriken in them and then everything goes black.

When I open my eyes I'm standing up in a very dark place and all I can see is my own body. Suddenly, I see Itachi standing next to me, I can tell he's concentrating very hard on something and then I remember what had happened. "Um... Itachi, where are we?"

He opens his eyes and says, "We're in your mind."

"So are you going to show me the guy now, or what?" I ask wondering why my mind is so dark.

"It's dark because it's not really in your brain or memory; it's more like the spot in between where all your thoughts have to go to before they come out of your mouth, which is why I can hear your thoughts." He looks at me to see if I understand and then continues, "Please be quiet for a minute, while I work and getting a visual image of the guy." I don't say anything so he closes his eyes and continues to concentrate and after two minutes of just floating (I'm not really standing on anything so I guess I'm just floating in an upright position) I get bored and try to walk. That doesn't work and I kind of just walk in place. As soon as I stop I see a figure off in the distance. He has very short black hair and looks vaguely like Itachi except he's kind of short. Actually he's running toward us and Itachi has his eyes open now to look at him. When he's about five feet away he just disappears and I look at Itachi confused and see that he didn't disappear, he just used a sudden burst of speed to get behind Itachi and put a kunai to his throat.

I let out a small shocked sound, but he doesn't seem to see me and he whispers in Itachi's ear so quiet I almost miss it, "I could just kill you now," he pauses to lick Itachi's ear almost seductively and then continues, "but that wouldn't be any fun for me now would it?" Itachi is shaking in what can only be described as pure terror as the guy licks the side of Itachi's throat before gently biting it and then he continues, "If you do something for me I may let you live, and if you do it well I'll let you pick one of your family to let live." Itachi somehow blushes and gets paler at the same time and it looks like he's about to pass out as the guy's hand travels up his shirt. Suddenly he's fading and my vision is going black again.

When I open my eyes I see my ceiling so I sit up. That turns out to be a very bad idea as I groan at the pounding headache building in my head from sitting up too fast. I look around and see that the movie is still paused and see Itachi lying down on the couch, and from his odd position I'd say he passed out very suddenly. I let the headache pass then scooted over to where Itachi was and gently started to shake him. When that didn't work I did what any rational person would do; I shook harder. When that still didn't work I did a few quick hand signs and summoned some water, then promptly splashed with it. He groaned a little so I calmed down a lot. Then all the ninja training came back to me and I realized that I have to be rational and first figure out if he's alive and stable. So, I checked his pulse and then used the little medical skills I had to determine his chakra levels and steady heartbeat. Both of them were safe so I just set him in a more comfortable position and then go put new sheets on my bed for Itachi and then go back to the front room. I check on Itachi again and then decide that he's probably just exhausted from the events of today. I draw some water from the sink in the kitchen and get it to basically pick him up and take him to my room. Once I set him down, I go back out to the front room and start to make the couch for myself, but I stop when I hear a gasp from inside my room and I'm there before the gasp is even finished. Itachi opens his eyes slowly and then looks at me squinting while mumbling, "...Uo?..."

I start to draw some water from the kitchen while saying, "Yes?"

He stops squinting and physically relaxes a little while saying, "Where am I?"

I send the water into the bathroom to grab a rag and then come back while I say, "In my bed," the rag and water get here and I heat the water up a little and put the wet rag on his forehead while saying, "You're going to sleep here tonight."

He starts to get up a little and while saying, "I can't do that to you, I'll take the couch."

I gently push him back down and say, "No, you're obviously exhausted and you need your rest."

While he's lying back down he asks, "What do you do?"

I adjust his rag and say calmly, "I'm one of Kiro's ANBU, actually tomorrow I should officially be becoming one; I don't know what my name's going to be yet."

He smiles a little, "I made ANBU captain before the event happened," then a frown briefly takes over his features before he says, "sorry you had to see that." Then he gets a stubborn look on his face and says, "You're going to need your rest too and this is a reasonably big bed so we'll both sleep on it."

I smile at his logic and reply, "Ok, I'm going to go turn off the TV, so why don't you change into any pajamas you have while I'm doing that." I leave the room closing the door behind me and then I turn off the TV while taking off my shoes and putting them by the door. I go back to the room and knock before entering and I see a huge pile of weapons by my closet door. I whisper damn to myself while getting a pair of pajama pants for myself then going into the bathroom to change. I come back place my other clothes in a pile and then crawl tiredly into bed.

I hear Itachi mumble, "G'night." and I mumble it back while falling asleep. The last thing I thought was, 'I've only known him one day but I already like him; trust is a nice feeling.'

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Sorry it's short, I think it was because when I did the original version it was all in one sitting... Anyway remember; reviewsmotivation and good luck for the author!!! 


	5. Chapter 5 Edited

**AN: I only edited this chapter a little the important thing to know is that Uo is nineteen not fourteen (like in the original). Other than that I edited the original AN a little bit. Oh yes, review please!**

AN: Sorry if it's short, I was going to go on a little but I'm just so tired that anything I write at the moment will just be crap... Thanks to my four wonderful reviewers (HK Kieji, nebulaX, AkaiOkami, and psalmofsummer) I figured that I'd get a little farther by this chapter than I did, sorry. I'm so tired but I really did want to not post this, I may edit it later. I will try to update sooner next time. Also, for all the people who don't know what the cabbage patch is I'm am going to upload an icon either on to my myspace (or onto quizilla (under the penname rosenotrosie).

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, not even the computer I write this on (it's my parent's computer).

**

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Chapter 5**

Recap: I hear Itachi mumble, "G'night." and I mumble it back while falling asleep. The last thing I thought was, 'I've only known him one day but I already like him; trust is a nice feeling.'

When I woke up I was really warm. It was nice so I sat there for a minute remembering everything that happened yesterday while trying to convince myself to just get out of the bed and into the shower. As I finally got everything settled in my head I was able to realize that the reason I was so warm was because Itachi was spooning me. Instead of freaking out like I did when he fainted I calmly removed his arm from around my waist and crawled out of bed as quietly as I could but I couldn't stop the hiss that escaped my lips as my feet hit the floor and I turned to see if Itachi had woken up. He turned over, but didn't seem to be awake so I just went to my drawers and got out my thick draw string black pants and a green long sleeve shirt (like a turtleneck but without the neck part), needless to say I would be very comfortable today. I walked into the bathroom and turned on the water to let it get warm as I undressed. When I stepped into the shower it was too hot so I turned it down a little and washed up. After about ten minutes (AN: THAT IS A FAST SHOWER, I DON'T CARE WHAT ANY ONE SAYS, THAT IS FAST!!! I just thought you guys would like to know that.) I got out of the shower and dressed. I shivered as I opened the door while I was putting my hair up so it wouldn't drip all over my shirt. When I walked in the kitchen I was surprised to see Itachi was in there fully dressed and pouring two cups of coffee.

Without turning around he said, "In about four minutes there will be toast if you want any." He handed me my coffee and sat down at the small table in there.

I took a sip of the coffee and said, "Thank you." We just sat there in silence for a while until I noticed that he kept looking at my face so I asked, "Is there something on my face?"

He looked up a little and said, "Just your tattoos, I didn't see them yesterday, do they symbolize something or did you get them to look nice?"

I take a sip of coffee and slowly reply, "The red tear drop, under my right eye, is for my mom and the blue is for my dad. She died when I was seven and my dad died when I was eight." He nodded and looked like he was about to say something but then the toaster popped and he went to get the toast while I got out the jelly and butter. As I prepared a piece for myself (he did two) I looked at the time and realized that I had to leave in the next ten minutes. I ate my toast as I looked around for my all my weapons and my mask. I had toast hanging out of my mouth, my vest half on, my kunai holster and my shuriken holster in my right hand, and my hitai-ate and my boots in my other hand. I put my stuff on the table and started to put on my shuriken holster he got up and stood behind me. I had it on about half way when he took out the band in my hair and put on my hatai-ate. I finished putting on my shuriken holster and boots (mine are close toed because my toes get cold easily) and stood up, then I said thanks while zipping up my vest. I put on my mask and said bye. As I closed the door behind me I heard him say to have a nice day.

I went by way of rooftops to the ANBU complex and got there right on time. I checked into the front gate and then ran up to the main room where I normally got my mission assignments. When I walked in I saw Gale, one of the three random people who handle the paperwork for the ANBU, so I walked up to her and asked in a deep voice, "So Gale, do you got anything for me today?" I asked in a deep voice because we have this ongoing game of me trying to fool her into thinking that I'm someone else (remember that I am wearing the rookie mask), she always wins.

She looks up at me with her big brown eyes, even though I'm not into girls, Gale is definitely what most guys would define as hot, she has the previously mentioned brown eyes, nice curves, long brown hair, and she's only about 23, she has these glasses, too, but they look really good on her. Anyway, she looks up at me and replies, "Well, Uo, today you just have a final test at seven thirty and, given that you pass that, you have a mask assignment at noon. Anything else you'd like to know today?" I honestly don't know how she just knows it's me or how she just has my schedule memorized, but she's nice so I don't care.

I ask, "What do I have to do for the test?"

She replies, "Just go down to the West training field and you'll find out."

I think, _'Great, nice and vague just the way I like it,'_ but I say, "Thanks Gale." and slowly head west, because I have twenty minutes to get there. After about ten minutes I get to the field and see Zou (1) just standing there, one of the fifty random ANBU members, but this one specializes in genjustu and medical jutsus. Once I get over to her she says in a harsh tone, "Rookie, your objective is simple enough today, you just have to guard this scroll from me." then she throws a scroll at me, "If I even touch it you don't become ANBU. Oh, and you aren't allowed to use any ninjutsu. Questions?"

"Two," I put it in my vest and continue, "Does that include my bloodline ability, and when do we begin?"

She slips her mask from around her neck to her face and replies, "No, and now." then she charges at me and I barely have time to dodge but she's already coming back with a kick to my side that I catch with one hand as I try to kick her side and flip back to put some distance between us at the same time. I feel my foot connect but then she seems to melt and I know it was just a water clone. Once I land I have to guard against her, try to fight back and start to gather the water her clone left behind at the same time. I manage to guard against her and make an ice kunai to help with the hand-to-hand combat while I made some ice needles to shoot at her. When that turns out to be another clone I don't even let the water drop this time I just gather it and fight what I can sense is the real her to my right. She throws a punch with her right and this time I catch and freeze some of the water around her hand. She just keeps on going and the plan backfires when she only uses the frozen hand because it's protected from any attacks. Eventually my concentration on her hand weakens and she breaks the ice and quickly does some hand symbols. I blink and there's suddenly over one hundred of her. They all start attacking at the same time and I try to hit the ones I can reach but I just go right through them; I know that this is just genjutsu so I just do a quick hand sign and dispel it. Oddly enough, this works even though she's a genjutsu expert, then I realize the problem, she's no longer here. As I'm looking around trying to figure out where the hell she went suddenly she's right behind me and in the next half second I'm pinned. In the small moment between when her hand starts to move towards the pocket of my vest the scroll of stored in and her hand actually connecting with that pocket, I draw some water over and somehow get the scroll away from me and get an ice kunai at her throat. Then time goes back to it's normal setting and she says, "You pass." and then gets up and helps me up. I draw the scroll back to me and draw the water out of it before she continues, "Congratulations, you passed part one of two, now open the scroll and figure out what's next." I open the scroll and see that it's encoded directions to the top of the mountain, where it says I'll get a mask if I get there by noon. "You have to solve the code to figure out the directions and you can use any jutsu you want now. Goodbye." I don't even look up to see her do a transportation jutsu I just start to work on the code. About ten minutes later I have the code all done, I have to go to a lake, to get another scroll, and then work my way up a mountain. It's now eight thirty and I start to run. About thirty minutes later I get to the lake and look around, there's a sign posted at the edge of the water so I go read it...

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(1) zou-elephant, I don't actually why I picked it but I know it's not because she's fat, lets go with she has short (for a girl, long for a guy) gray hair and she's really smart.

Ok, fifth edited! This chapter was edited on 1-2-07.


	6. Chapter 6 Edited

**AN: This chapter was practically untouched... I didn't like that it was short so I was going to just put chapter 7 in with it but I'll edit that and upload that in a few minutes. I think the only thing I did was edit the the spelling of a few words... sorry, I tried...**

AN: I'M SO SORRY IT'S LATE AND SHORT!!! My reason is that my brother has been forcing me to split the computer because he's bored and I have this thing against writing without my privacy. Again I apologize. The only other thing I have to say is thank you to my reviewers from the last chapter, nebulaX and AkaiOkami, again I love you guys. The last thing I'm going to say before I start the chapter is that, again, I didn't get as far as I would have liked, but I will not even post again until I finally get his happy little ANBU name (I was hoping to get there by chapter, but it just didn't fit).

Disclaimer: Dood... the only thing I own is Uo, and, frankly, I'm not sharing. Just kidding, you guys can read about him, but he's still all mine!!!

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Chapter 6

Recap: About thirty minutes later I get to the lake and look around, there's a sign posted at the edge of the water so I go read it...

The thing you seek

Isn't that hard to find

If you have a keen eye

And a strong mind.

You should also know that

I'm not making this easy

So it's neither under water nor in a tree-sy

But I am in plain sight so this should be breezy.

(AN: I have issues with rhyming, ok.)

I read it through another two times, to the point where I had it memorized, then I started to think of where else the scroll could be if it wasn't in a tree or in the water... under ground, wait, he said it was in plain sight. Hmm, I looked in the sky, mildly hoping that there would just be a random scroll just floating there, no such luck. I return to rational, not wishful, thinking and try to think of somewhere in plain sight that isn't in a tree, or in the water. I was standing in a small patch of grass next to the water's edge with the forest starting about fifty feet away so I just could not think of somewhere else to hide it in plain sight, then I saw the boulder that I had previously overlooked because it was just too obvious. On a whim, I went over there and checked it out, looked around the bottom, no scroll, jumped on top, thinking that if nothing else I could look at everything from a different perspective, but what do you know, there it is, just sitting on top of this obviously placed boulder, so I pick it up and then all hell breaks loose.

First, about fifteen shuriken come at me from my left so I have to jump to the right while trying to shove the scroll in my scroll pouch at the same time. Of course once I land in that random spot to my left the ground just has to crumble under my feet, so I do what is probably the quickest transportation justu I have ever done in my life to poof into the lake. When I come up for air I also look at the area where I was previously standing. Most of the major damage comes from the boulder that seems to have exploded when the shurikens actually made contact; I somehow missed that while I was almost being sucked into the pit trap, oh darn. I get the water to make an ice path for me to get back to shore and just as I'm about to step on to shore I think about all the other traps and random, yet somehow perfectly placed, holes that were just waiting to get me. I decide that I'm going to just walk on water, the easiest way to describe that technique is I draw some water out of the lake (and out of my clothes, to dry off) and have it float around my feet while I move them in what is basically a skating like motion, that can actually be really fun.

Anyway, I do that going up the mountain, avoiding as many traps as I could, not them all because sometimes even I can mistake clear strings that happen to send waves of kunai or skuriken flying at me, for spider webs.

Eventually I got to the peak to find a flat clearing. I looked for anything that might tell me what I now had to do. Then I saw a random person just sitting on the edge of the cliff, of course as I walked towards him he just happens to fall. Luckily, I make a dive to catch him and I manage to catch him by the hair on his head, literally. Now that his whole body weight is being supported by his hair and his life depends of the strength of his hair, he just has to scream his head off. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING, LET ME GO!!!" and then he tries to beat my hand.

I drag him up anyway and force him to sit down, then, instead of yelling at him, I whisper in a deadly serious whisper so he just gets this scared look, like a child caught steeling a cookie before dinner, "What the hell is wrong with you? First you jump off a cliff and then you yell at me to let you go! I mean, really, what is your deal?!?"

He loses the terrified look and says, "Do you really want to know?" in a defeated voice.

I thought about it then replied, "Depends, do you have anything to do with my ANBU initiation thing?" He nods, so I continue, "Ok then you have to answer a few questions for me first and then you may have to talk and move at the same time, are you ok with that?" He nods again, so I ask, "Do I have to go anywhere for the initiation thing?"

"Yes."

"Can you tell me where?"

"Not directly."

"Another riddle?"

"No. It's in the story."

I look at my watch and see that it's about eleven so I decide that I have time, "Ok, let's hear this story of yours."

He nods and gets this look like he's trying to remember something, then starts off, "Well, I grew up in a happy healthy home but when I was ten I was kidnapped and forced to live in an the ruins of a school a little farther up this mountain. I escaped when I was seventeen and, well let's just say that I got around and spread my seed." He stops briefly to catch his breath and continues, "That was, until I turned 20 and settled down in one place with a steady woman. She really loved to water and feed me, she was an odd woman. Anyway, eventually she left me for another man and left me to rot. That was about a month ago..." Based on the lack of real emotion he's showing, I know that he's just telling me some thing he had to memorize and the whole jumping thing was an act. I try to remember all the details of his story and try to figure out where exactly it is I have to go.

I look at him and say, "Nice act, thanks for the clue, bye." He looks mildly shocked as I stand up to leave.

He stands and says, "Wait, this is the last thing I have to give you." and he hands me an old scroll and does a transportation justu. I open the scroll and see that it's a map of the top of the mountain, there's a small town and a school just outside of it.


	7. Chapter 7 Edited

**AN: Again, not much changed, there were a few words I switched and respelled but other than that there really isn't anything new. Also, there is a question at the bottom that I would appreciate responses to, thanks.**

AN: It's early!!! I finally got him a real ANBU name!!! YAY!!!!!!!

Disclaimer: Me no ownie Naruto, kay!

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Chapter 7

Recap: He stands and says, "Wait, this is the last thing I have to give you." and he hands me an old scroll and does a transportation justu. I open the scroll and see that it's a map of the top of the mountain, there's a small town and a school just outside of it.

I thought over all the details I remembered from the story and it seemed like he dropped a few hints regarding a tree and he mentioned a school at some point, so I head there first. Once I get into the city I can see that it's been abandoned for quite some time. Anyway, I get to the school and see that it's really tiny, really no bigger than my apartment complex, if that, and it's actually in worse condition than the rest of town, but that's only because a huge tree seemed to have fallen on it. I try really hard to sense any chakra in the area but there isn't any. But I'm sure the story was about the tree now so I decide to look around on a whim. The tree's roots are almost rotted through and the trunk is in bad shape even though it's roughly fifty feet tall (AN: I can't remember any metric conversions so for anyone who only uses meters just go with really, really tall.) and the leaves are all brown and crunchy... Wait, the leaves are still on the tree, that doesn't make any sense because they would have fallen off a long time ago... Oh shit, so now there's a small chance that I'm looking at a genjustu, so I do the release thing and open my eyes to see that the room I happened to be standing in (the tree had smashed through the roof and thus I had to go into one of the rooms to see the top of the tree) had many more of the lovely pit falls that I had somehow managed to avoid (thank you random odds) and a stair case where the top of the tree used to be. Tired of all the riddles and whatnot I threw caution to the wind and just walked right in. At some point going down the stairs I looked at my watch and saw that I had roughly five minutes to get to the bottom. So I did about the stupidest thing a person can do when they can't really see where they're going (it's really dark) and there's a very good chance of traps, I ran. I finally got to a point where I could see a light at the end of this hellishly long tunnel and I jumped, literally through this door shaped opening. I got very lucky for two reasons, one, Zou was actually standing where I would have gone if I hadn't jumped, and two, the room had a very high ceiling. The second my feet hit the floor, she said, "Twenty-three seconds." After an unintelligent, "huh" from me she clarified, "You would have failed if you had gotten here twenty-three seconds later." After thinking, 'Damn I cut it close.' I guess she must of seen my look of pure and utter terror even through the mask so she continued, "Hey, most of the members who have had to take this particular test have finished in the area of five-ish minutes before failing, if fact you did very well for your age."

I probably looked as relieved I felt at that point, so I managed to get the courage to ask, "So, do I get my official name and stuff now?"

She seemed to shake with silent laughter while saying, "Well aren't you the eager one?" She pauses just to torture me and then continues, "Since I'm the one who oversaw your exam I get to name you..." She seems to think for a minute and then says, "Nezumi, (mouse) because you have the ability to be very quiet, as seen in the forest, and you are very aware of your surroundings." The second reason shocks me and she again sees it and continues, "Most of the people simply fell in a hole to see through the genjustu and then only half of that were able to break through it." After so much flattery and dumb luck I felt like singing, but I didn't... out loud. So as I was humming "I Feel Pretty" she continued to talk and I just happened to only hear the end, "... so now we're going back to the complex where you'll get your mask and your training schedule." I couldn't hold it in anymore, so as we were starting to go up the stairs I started to skip, when this wasn't enough to express my extreme joy at that moment I started to sing,

"I feel pretty, Oh, so pretty, I feel pretty and witty and bright! And I pity Any girl who isn't me tonight!"

At that point we reached to top of the stairs, they seem so much faster now that it doesn't matter how fast I go on them, and I stopped singing but continued to skip. The traps from before were still there but somehow skipping made it easier to avoid them than before. Zou just followed me shaking her head muttering something about how this is what she was going to have to deal with for the next two years. Once we actually got back to the complex, after thirty minutes of skipping, shaking heads, mumbling, and randomly bursting into song, I managed to calm down enough to stop skipping and pass for a normal person.

Of course there had to be something that took me out of my best mood ever and that happened to be that I had no idea where to go from there, so I tactfully slowed down enough to let Zou pass me and let her lead the way before I made a complete ass of myself. We eventually got to a door and when Zou opened it I saw it was a small workshop. We walked in and I saw the small old man sitting in the back making some odd weapons.

Zou cleared her throat and he looked up, "So are you teasing this young man or did he pass?"

Zou took off her mask and replied, "No, he passed. So now I have to bother you for a mask."

He smiles and says, "Oh Zou, making masks is my job, so what animal did you decide on?"

"Nezumi."

He nodded and then looked at me, "Well take off the rookie mask, boy lets see what I have to work with." I took off my mask and his eyes seemed to be drawn to the right side of my face. "Ok, come back in two hours, it'll be done." and then he waved us out the door.

Zou led the way and I followed her more like a puppy than a mouse. Once we got out of the hallway she turned around and said, "Ok, you here is your new training schedule: Monday thru Friday you get here at six am you leave when we're done. Saturday is going to be your free day and Sunday will be the day you either get a mission assignment or we train, get here at seven either way." She looks at her watch and continues, "You now have forty-five minutes to go get lunch and be back here by two. You're dismissed."

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Okay people, entirely random but really serious question here... ahem... is it John Jacob Jingle Hiemer Schmidt or Smith. My friend and I were fighting about this all morning yesterday and I think it's Schmidt, just like everyone else I've asked. Oh yeah, please review too, I don't care it it's just "I like your story, update. -ladida" although I really do prefer constructive criticism. If you do happen to review, please answer the previously mentioned question though.

Note: that was in the original version and I would still like responses to it. This chapter was edited on 1-3-07 as was chapter 6.


	8. Chapter 8 Edited

AN: I don't think I changed that much but I know I tweaked the end a little and the random AN's that were in there before got either taken out and put at the bottom or got deleted. This is the last of my editing so hopefully I'll write the next complete chapter soon! Ok, Happy (Belated) New Year, and enjoy the story!!!

AN: Ok, first things first, takes huge breath MERRY BELATED CHRISTMAS!!! Also, sorry it's a little late, but I think it's a little longer than usual and we finally start to see the beginning of a relationship! I put some pretty random AN's in there and I don't feel like going through and deleting the unimportant ones so you guys will just have to suffer through my randomness. Also, sorry if this one seems a little off, I was slightly more crazy than usual while writing most of this chapter, if you're a girl you should understand, if you're a guy and you understand, I feel sorry for you. I don't feel like re-reading this chapter to edit it so I'm hoping that it isn't too bad. Also, one of the reasons this wasn't out sooner is that I'm suffering from lack of motivation. Possible cures for this include; reviews and reviews with imaginary cookies/brownies/candy/food/fries/ramen/chinese food/rice/lumpia attached to them. Can you tell I'm hungry? Anyway, Enjoy!

Disclaimer: _hysterical crying _I don't own _blows nose loudly_ naruto!!! _somehow_ _crying gets more hysterical than before_

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Chapter 8**

Recap: Zou led the way and I followed her more like a puppy than a mouse. Once we got out of the hallway she turned around and said, "Ok, you here is your new training schedule: Monday thru Friday you get here at six am you leave when we're done. Saturday is going to be your free day and Sunday will be the day you either get a mission assignment or we train; get here at seven either way." She looks at her watch and continues, "You now have forty-five minutes to go get lunch and be back here by two. You're dismissed."

I turned and started to run towards Nami's so I could tell her the good news then I thought, 'I could tell her now, and Itachi... or I could wait until I got my mask so I wouldn't have to come back so soon.' I decided to go with the second option as I went into town and bought a small lunch (1). I sat at a random bench in the park just watching the kids as I ate, luckily able to just look at the kids and their parents without thinking too much about my own. After I finished my food and started to leisurely walk back to the ANBU complex, I had about fifteen minutes to make the five minute walk. I got back to old guy's work spot with about five minutes to spare and Zou wasn't standing outside the room so I walked through the door to see if she was in there.

I saw that Zou wasn't here but the old guy looked up when I walked in and said, "You're just in time, I just finished doing the painting on it. It'll be dry in about three minutes."

I sat down in the only other chair in the room and replied, "Thank you."

He looked up from his seat across the room and said, "Your welcome. You'd be surprised how few people say that. They'll thank their mentor, but they'll never thank me for my awesome skills."

At that point Zou walked in and said, "Is it done?"

He replies, "It should've just finished drying." Then he gives me a brief wink and gets to get it.

He hands it to her and she looks it over before handing it to me. The whole thing is slightly faded to brown in color, it has a small black nose painted on, thin black whiskers, three on each side, the Kiro (2) insignia carved into the top, and a red and blue teardrop painted under the right eye very lightly. I loved it, so I tried it on; it fit like it was molded to my face. I took it off and said to them both, "Thank you." with the most sincerity I could portray.

Then I looked at my watch and saw that it was only two-ten and I guess Zou saw that and said, "Go party and what not. Just remember not to stay out too late or drink too much because you have training a six o'clock bright and early tomorrow morning." In Kiro, the legal drinking age was technically 18, but I rarely drink anyway so I don't really have to worry about that.

I just mumbled thanks as I was practically running out of the complex while putting my mask back on. I went by roof tops to Nami's (3) so I could show all three of them my new mask and brag. Once I got there I was surprised to see that they already had a banner in the front that said, "Congrats Uo!" I guess they just knew that I had passed, but how. I decided not to try and sneak in and just go in the front door. Once I walked in there was a yell of "Uo!!!" that vaguely compared in volume to a small volcanic eruption. But before I could fully recover from that I was suddenly tackled to the floor.

"Our little Uo's all grown up!!!" Nami said while crying, hugging and sitting on me all at the same time.

Once I regained the ability to breathe and talk at he same time I said, "I'm the same age as you Nami."

She stood up and offered me her hand while saying with a huge smile, "But, I'm sooo much more mature than you Uo!" Why is it that everything coming out of her mouth is insanely loud?

Itachi appeared from behind the counter with a huge cake in his arms, I mean this thing was about three feet long by two feet wide (4) it was HUGE!!! Anyway he walks over as Nami's helping me up and he's in a full length apron that says, "Let's keep in mind I am the person who brings you your food ... not what exactly were you saying?" I gave it to Nami when she was opening the restaurant, it looks good on Itachi. Nami breaks up my thoughts by saying, "Will you please stop staring at the damn cake and say thanks already!" I turned and hugged Nami quickly and then said, "CAKE!!!"

Itachi put the cake down and handed me a knife/server thing, I already had a piece cut out before he even had a plate ready. I put the piece of the german chocolate cake on the plate and then took of my mask to start eating. I saw Itachi's shocked look as he dug under his apron to bring out a five and give it to Nami. I quickly finished eating my piece and asked, "What was that for?"

He looked at me as Nami started to cut herself a piece and said, "She bet me that you wouldn't even read what we put on the cake no matter how ridiculous it was and I lost."

I looked over to the cake and made the mistake of reading it out loud, "My balls are always bouncing to the left and to the right. It's my belief that my big balls should be held every night!" (5) I got a 'WTF?!?' stare from roughly eight out of the eleven people there at the time. Then, as I was blushing to resemble the red icing that lovely lyric was written in, I saw Nami pay Itachi seven dollars, "Ok, what did you guys bet on now?"

Nami answered me this time, "I bet five that you wouldn't read aloud and a dollar per person under ten that would look at you crazy if you did?" She then shoved a bite of cake in her mouth as Itachi finished cutting his piece.

I looked at him smiling and asked, "Have you guys been doing this all day?" they both nodded since they both had food in their mouth at the moment. "Who's been making more money?"

Itachi raised his fork and swallowed before saying, "I'm up by five dollars."

I smiled and said, "Nami are you already corrupting him?"

I cut myself a second piece as she replied, "Yep, and he's learning oh so fast!"

I started to eat it as Itachi put in, "She's also teaching me to cook! They have this HUGE oven that we used to make the cake!" he took a bite of his cake and continued, "So, what's your official name?!?" It appeared that Nami's enthusiasm had rub off on Itachi.

Mine came out from behind the counter as I said, "Nezumi."

Mine calmly said, "Congratulations, Uo. I'm really happy for you."

I replied, "Thanks." and then I saw Nami handing Uo another five, "What was it this time?"

Itachi smiled and said, "I bet Mine would be first to say congrats. By the way, Congratulations!"

"Yeah, Congrats to our big strong protector man!" Nami said/yelled.

"Don't worry Nami you could still kick my ass anytime you wanted to."

She smiled and replied, "That's right, but I'm the only one." and she pinched my cheek like she was my aunt and I was four or something.

We were all smiling and talking for the next seven hours, only being interrupted every so often for people to pay their bill or cook food or things of that sort. We didn't even the time pass because we were all on some natural high or something. So, around eleven o'clock Mine finally said, "Ok, Uo needs to go home so he even has the possibility of waking up in time for training tomorrow and Itachi has been getting paid for the last thirteen hours. Go home you guys, we'll clean up here."

"Thanks Mine." Itachi said with a slight slur as he pulled me out of my seat and we worked towards the door. I guess he had a drink at some point, I didn't even notice.

I yelled, "THANKS YOU GUYS!!!" as I was getting pulled out the door hearing Nami mutter something about maids. It was a little cold as we walked and we were making light conversation when I noticed that we were still holding hands and I decided that I didn't care. About halfway there he asked, "Why are you in ANBU?"

I had to think for a minute before I replied, "It was what my parents wanted for me." I looked down and then continued, "But after they died, I started to work harder than I ever had in my life in the vain hope that I would get the chance to avenge them." I looked into his eyes to see nothing but understanding in them so I decided to finish my reasons, "But when I was in the Jonin level I met Nami, she actually was in ANBU at that point. She made me see that my reasons had been wrong and that I had to be doing this for my dreams and my dreams only. After officially trying to find some other purpose in life for myself, I gave up and decided to just stick to what I was good at. After I got back from my month long vacation, I discovered that this was what made me happy."

He nodded and said, "I used to be the ANBU captain in Konoha," he gave a strained smile and continued, "so I know what you mean about it making you happy." He seemed to think for a minute before saying, "What would you say if I said that I really want to kiss you now?"

"I'd say ok." and his lips were on mine in that same second. I could taste the alcohol on his lips and I knew that he'd had more than just one drink but at that moment I just didn't care. We had stopped walking and just stood facing each other while kissing. We had to stop to breath and I said, "Let's go home now." It appeared that we had both sobered up awhile ago, him from the alcohol and me from the party, and we walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence still holding hands. Once we got home we both just collapsed on the bed not even bothering to change into anything and we just went to sleep still holding hands.

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(1) AN: Hey, readers pick what you want for food. Personally I was thinking french fries and a big mac (the only things I'll eat from McDonalds) but that is just what I happen to be craving at the moment and I really doubt the existence both McDonalds and fries in Naruto world... hmmm...

(2) by Kiro insignia I mean the four little squiggly lines. If you really want to know what it looks like find a picture of Haku in his mask.

(3) I don't know if I mentioned it but I decided that Nami and Mine live in an apartment over their restaurant so when I say he's going to Nami's I'm usually going to be referring to the restaurant but it could be either.

(4) I did the conversions and that's 0.914411119 by 0.609912217 meters. OH YEAH!!!

(5) This is a line from Big Balls by AC/DC, it's a really funny song.

Ok, this chapter was edited 1-3-07 and it's the last of my editing, YAY!!! Now the story can resume!!!


	9. Chapter 9 Edited

**AN: Hey, I kind of took a week or two off from this story, I'm sorry, it just wasn't going in the direction I wanted it to, plus I had finals... I did well enough, but they still sucked. I think it was mostly just the end of this chapter that was edited, but that was mostly because it was almost too random. So, with this edit, the original version of the next chapter is officially nul and void. Nothing in that chapter isn't true, but I think I kind of skipped something important... I haven't figured it out yet. Anyway, I still want reviews, and I'm sorry all my chapters are kind of short (I realize it literally takes five minutes top to read them, I'm sorry, but that's the length I have to go at if I can get them out with any kind of consistancy) but that's not going to change any time soon!**

AN: Okie Dokes people, back to our regularly scheduled programming. Um, this chapter wasn't that inspired and I know it's definitely not my best work but it's not a filler because it actually needed to be done. So, you know, read and review please! Oh, thanks to the one person I actually got a review from, nebulaX, for any weird people who like to prove me wrong, she didn't review through the normal way, she told me that she like the revisions when we were talking. I don't know why I talk so much...

Disclaimer: Do I really have to go through this torture every single time...

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Chapter 9

Recap: Once we got home we both just collapsed on the bed not even bothering to change into anything and we just went to sleep still holding hands.

Once again I woke up with that warm feeling, it was nice. When I opened my eyes I looked at the clock on the wall to see that it was already five fifteen so I tried to hurry out of bed with out waking up Itachi. I took a five minute shower and then I realized that I forgot my clothes. So I put the towel around my waist after I dried off a little and I snuck back into my room where Itachi was still sleeping. I got my boxers on under my towel and took the towel off to put on a pair of workout pants. When I had my shirt half on I heard a groan and then, "...Uo?"

I got my shirt the rest of the way on and then said, "Yes?"

With his eyes half open and in his half awake state he said, "Why are you changing in here?"

"I forgot to bring clothes into the bathroom for my shower."

Still half awake he says, "Oh, have a nice day."

I got my boots on as I said, "You too." and as I was walking out of the room I could have swore I heard him say something about a nice ass. I looked at the clock in the kitchen and see that it's only five twenty three so I take my time putting my ANBU vest, shuriken holster, and scroll pouch on. I grab a roll from the fridge and put my mask on as I walk out the door.

I finish my roll before I get there about five minutes early and Zou meets me by the gate so we go in together. Since it's Tuesday we're training. Before we start she asks me, "What are your main jutsus?"

I reply, "Water clone jutsu, transportation jutsu, mist jutsu (summons mist), hidden mist jutsu (allows me to hide in mist without physical form), water summoning jutsu, some random genjutsu, and then basic henge and switching jutsu (AN: sorry can't remember the name of the jutsu where someone quickly replaces themselves with a log or something of that sort to take the hit for them)."

"Good, what genjutsu do you know?"

"I know one that makes me invisible, one that makes someone feel safe and secure, one that puts people to sleep, and one that hides things like cliffs and pitfalls."

"Ok, then today I'm just going to work on getting to know your jutsus."

Then we just fought and she would randomly yell genjutsu, ninjutsu, or kekai genkai and I would have to try to defeat her using one of those. She only used taijutsu and I still couldn't win, I guess she was going really easy on me buring the exam. Around six she finally said to call it a day.

I decided that I didn't look too bad to be seen in public so I went over to Nami's for some dinner. When I walked in the door I saw Nami, who was standing at the bar, perk up and Itachi ran back to the kitchen for something. I went and sat at the bar and Nami came over. "So how was your first day of training, Mister Big Strong Ninja?"

I stopped thinking about Itachi's hasty retreat and replied, "Tiring. She didn't let me stop for lunch so I'm starving."

"So, I take it that you're hungry." Nami said in a mock serious voice.

"Yes, but I believe my exact wording was 'starving.'" I said with a slight smile. "Could I please have food, Nami?"

She still has that mock serious voice as she says, "Now by food, do you mean human or cat, because we have both?"

I decided to be really nice to Nami, "Human food, your choice as to what exactly that entails."

She got an evil smirk on her face as she said, "So that'll be one order of Lumpia, chow mien, fried rice, and orange chicken (1). Glad to see that you're eating something other than ramen, it's a healthy step for you." I just smiled as she went back to give Nami the order. It probably wasn't my best idea but I decided to take an almost nap with my head in my arms on the counter.

I lifted my head when someone poked me and said, "Sir your order's ready." I looked up to see Itachi standing there with one very big plate in his hands. As soon as he realized it was me his eyes widened in shock for a brief moment before he put the plate in front of me and said, "Enjoy."

As he started to go back into the kitchen I said, "Why are you running?" before digging into my food as he turned around.

He attempted a very fake smile before saying, "What are you talking about Unosuke-kun?"

"When I walked in and just now. It's nothing serious, but normally I have to either piss someone off really bad or scar them for life for them to react that bad to me." I replied taking another bite of food.

He looked a little lost for a minute then he looked down and said, "Can we talk about this when we get home, please?"

I decided that I was hungry enough to take pity and replied, "Sure." He mumbled thanks before going to take care of someone who had just walked in.

As I finished my food Nami came over to me, "Ok, 'Tachi-kun's been acting weird all day, so what ever issue you guys have, WORK IT OUT!" Nami really likes to take advantage of the 'It's my restaurant, and I'll do/say/yell at/ beat what/whomever I want!' rule she uses here. Then she continues, "That'll be $7.50."

I hand her the money and smile at her while quietly saying, "I plan to. When does he get off?"

She does her evil/satisfied smile and says, "Now, " then she turns around and yells to the kitchen in general, "ITACHI, GO HOME!"

He comes out after minute while putting on his jacket, "See you tomorrow." Looks like he's already used to Nami, this is a good thing.

We walk to the door together and I think he gets that we're walking home together even though neither one of us has vocalized it. We walk in that not-comfortable-but-not-uncomfortable silence.

We get in the door and we both put our jackets (well, his jacket, my vest) in the front closet. I follow him to the kitchen and then I can't take it anymore, "Ok, the silence is officially broken, so spill."

He gives me a questioning look before starting to dig in my fridge so I continue, "Why are you so weird today?" He mumbles something that I don't hear so I have to ask, "Say it audibly please,."

"I've never been in a relationship." he repeats, head still in the fridge. He stands up holding some leftovers from... awhile... back. Anyway, when he closes the door I get to fully see his profile and I just don't see how that could be possible.

So I ask, "Do you mean with someone of the same sex or just never in general?"

He was smelling the food and he seems to have deemed it acceptable while I was talking. He replies as he puts in the microwave, "Never, in general."

I can see why a relationship might scare him then but I still have a question, "Why? I mean, it couldn't be because of lack of interest in potential partners parts..."

He turns to talk to me with small smile on his face, "No, I think I actually had three fan clubs," the frown returns, "but my family was very... popular and I didn't think they would have been very accepting of me." He said the last part looking at the ground again.

The microwave beeped so he got the food out as I started to say, "Well, I know it helps if you're friends with the person first, so why don't we do that."

He's holding his food as he turns around and asks, "So first we're working on friendship?" I nod as he goes to get chopsticks, "So do we still have that movie?"

I nod and follow him out to the living room where I put the DVD a little before where we were two nights ago. I sit and press play and he eats while watching the movie.

We watch the movie and at the end I look over and see that he's crying, oddly this makes him look even hotter. I make a mental note to stop thinking those kinds of thoughts so often, but I have a feeling that that is one little mental note that I'll forget. If crying makes him look hot, we're in for some kinky stuff when we finally get together... Dammit, no, bad Uo.

Anyway, his tears go away so fast that I almost think that it was a figment of my imagination, but a quick sniffle assures me that it wasn't. He yawns and I realize that it's already ten so I say, "Let's go to bed." His eyebrow goes up in a gesture of shock so I go over what I just said and then say, "No, no, not that, I meant to sleep. Gosh, you have such a dirty mind." I'm smiling by the end of that sentence.

He mumbles something vaguely sounding of, "Takes one to know one." before nodding so I take the container his food was in and say, "I'll clean this, you go get ready." He nods again and we get up.

I clean the plastic container and go to the door on my room, I knock once and then just walk in. Luckily, for Itachi, he's a fast dresser so all I see is his top half because he only has on pants. I take a pair of sweats from one of my drawers and go to the bathroom to change while trying to banish all the dirty thoughts from my mind. When I come back he's already in bed and as I join him I notice the pile of weapons by the closet that I guess he carries around. "How do you carry all those weapons?" I ask as soon as I'm settled in the bed.

"I hide them everywhere and wear loose clothing." he replies.

I think, _'Sounds like fun,' _I say, "Oh."

"Why did you ask?"

I try to think of a decent lie, "Because I'm curious." I couldn't come up with anything.

"Hmm, ok, question for a question. Why are you helping me?" Suddenly this conversation had gotten serious.

I struggle for an answer for a minute, then decide to make up an answer as I go, "I don't really know why I did at first, I mean, this was in basic training, don't trust anyone, ever. If you do you increase your chances of dieing a very early death. But now I know it's because I just want to believe you... There still isn't any rational reason."

I see him smile in the dark before saying, "Would you train me?"

"What?"

"Training. Just out in the woods some days after your training with Zou?"

I thought about it for a minute and said, "If I'm allowed to eat before we train, that should be fine. That and you may have to go nice on me when I'm tired."

He smiles again and hugs me, just a friendly hug, but it was still a really nice hug. After that we just go to sleep, not even thinking what the next few days would bring for us.

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(1) I was trying to think of what foods might actually be on the menu in Naruto-world, but I couldn't think of any real Japanese food so he ended up eating some Chinese food and lumpia (I think it's Cambodian, all I really know is that it's delicious!). 

This chapter was posted on 1-6-07.

This chapter was edited on 1-30-07.


	10. Chapter 10 Edited

**AN(after re-rewriting): Ok this chapter is entirely rewritten, there is nothing the same so it really doesn't matter what happened in the original chapter ten. Um, sorry it too so long to get this out, but I won't even make excuses, I'm just lazy. This is my first time trying flashbacks and I don't think I'll ever use them again, they're kind of annoying. I hope you guys like it, tell me if you did (or didn't) please. Keep in mind Reviews can be very useful (and they brighten my day, but that isn't as important)!Oh, and this chapter ends in a cliffhanger (BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! (HA)). Enjoy.**

**AN (after edit of re-write): I think I only slightly changed one or two scenes slightly, no reason to read it again.**

**Chapter 10**

It has been seven days after I agreed to start training with Itachi, two of which I spent doing normal training with him and getting closer still. On the third day, we finally... you know what let's just have a nice little flashback...

flashback

We were both breathing heavy since we had agreed to just do a taijutsu training session since my chakra had been slightly exhausted from the previous training session I had with Zou. Suprisingly enough, I had been pretty evenly matched with Itachi, despite his previous post as ANBU captian. I was pretty much unbeatable when I was in a bad mood (I could literally just freeze the air around him, making it harder to breath, or I could give him the beginings of frostbite (never more, I didn't want to kill him) by freezing the water in his body, or mild burns by heating up his sweat but not allowing it to vaporize into the atmosphere.) Luckily I was a nice person, and I was very restrained with my power after... well that's not something to think about right now.

Any how we were fighting all out hand-to-hand and then he managed to gain the upper hand by knocking me off balance. Before I had time to regain my balance I was pinned to a tree. After a second of just standing there trying to catch our breath, Itachi just jumped back quickly, but not before I saw a blush take over his face (on top of the breathing heavy blush). As soon as he backed off I took my chance to regain the upper hand and I suddenly had him pinned. I realized why exactly his blush happened at that point, there is damn near nothing sexier than having a hot (both in temperature and attractiveness) heaving body pinned under you, just waiting to see what you'll do next. Apparently, there is also a draw in being the one pinned, as I found out when I was drawn out of my thoughts when I suddenly found his lips on mine. Just as I started to respond, he surprised me yet again by suddenly switching out positions once I let go of his wrists. He started to kiss me again and this time I promptly responded which resulted in him replying back with an equal fervor. Just when I was thinking about trying to switch back to the dominant position, he jumped off me and stood up.

As I started to give him a confused look he held out his hand and said, "Why don't we go back, it's getting a little late?"

I smiled and took his hand, not letting go when I got up, he blushed a little but didn't put up any resistance. God I love making him blush.

That night we kissed for the first time in bed, just a chaste kiss, but still, it was nice to know that he was entirely comfortable with me. From that day on I started to treat him as not only one of my best friends but also as my boyfriend. This meant holding hands in public and happily giving glares to any one in the restaurant who did something I didn't like to Itachi, this could be anything from hitting on him (mostly girls, but a few guys) or being mean to him simply because they weren't entirely satisfied with the food (I enjoyed scaring people using my mask, I can be sadistic at times). There were a surprising total of seventeen times that this happened just in the fifteen minutes I'm there after training with Zou for those three days or so. Did I mention that I loved scaring people while also being possessive.

flashback

One time someone was yelling at him just because they thought there was one hair in their food, he was fun. I snuck up behind Itachi and a small shift in his posture showed me that he knew I was there, so he wasn't surprised when I placed my arm low around his waist and "gently" asked the man, "Are you allergic to hair?" He looked confused so I continued, "Has having one piece of hair in your food ever made you physically ill?"

Itachi smiled as the guy's confused look cleared up, but before he could start yelling again Itachi spoke this time, "Sir, if you bothered to look closely at the hair you would see that it's a very light brown now that it has dried, not dissimilar to your own, however totally different from mine or the fine ladies who cooked that food and make living off of selling it."

The man looked thoroughly embarrassed at that point but I decided that we had damaged his ego enough for today so I turned and whispered in Itachi's ear, "Nicely done, lets eat and then go train, yeah?"

He smiled and walked to the front counter, grabbing my hand as it was coming off his waist, then yelling, "Nami, FOOD!!!" Before turning to me and briefly kissing me and then going to clock out.

Of course my brain caught up with me and told me that I was being way too possessive at that point, but I didn't care and it looked like Itachi didn't either, regardless I was a little less possessive. So I had a decent two or three days after that and then the event that got me into my current situation happened.

flashback

I came home to wait for Itachi after a particually grueling training session one day and I got in the door and locked it behind me, then I put my vest in the closet by the door and my shoes near it. I was taking off my shirt when I walked into my room so I could get the much needed shower as soon as possible when I heard, "Wow, you get points for the kick ass abs, but you loose points for not having sensed me in here. Be careful, if you blush about this it's automatic minus fifteen points."

I finished taking off my shirt, and looked at him, without blushing, and said, "Who said I didn't sense you?" yes, I lied, I'm really just far too lax about security and let's face it, I could take damn near anyone. At that he blushed and I smiled before continuing, "Give me about a half hour to shower and eat, then we'll go start training."

He nodded and walked out of the room while I got a new pair of training pants (different from work pants only in that they can have color as opposed to black) and a random t-shirt that I didn't even look at.

After I got out of the shower I went into the kitchen to find him making something on the stove (his back was blocking the view of the food). I sat down (1) and asked, "Whatcha makin'?" in a playful tone.

He didn't move out of the way, just responded with his back to me, "Food." in a similar tone to mine.

"What kind of food?" I was in a very good mood.

"Yummy food that'll be ready in a few seconds." Then he finally moved and I saw that it was two grilled cheese sandwiches (2). He turned around to say something more but obviously saw something and decided to say, "I like the shirt."

I looked down to see which shirt exactly he was talking about. It was my grey one that said, "I may not be perfect, but parts of me are awesome." So I said, "Even better, it's the truth." Hey no point having a shirt like that unless you're confident.

He smiled as he got out two plates and put one sandwhich on each. Then we ate for about the next five minutes in silence.

I finished first and cleaned the plates while he finished his last few bites and then I said, "Lets go."

After we got through the gate we walked about forty more feet away before I stopped and said, "Here is good."

He stopped about ten feet away from me and said, "So what do you want to do, Almighty Sensei?"

I smiled and slipped into battle stance before replying, "Sparring sounds like a good idea to me."

He smirked and slipped into his battle stance before saying, "I agree." Then he dissapeared.

I remembered everything I had learned to that point about Itachi's particular battle style; very fast, fire specialty, and the sharingan allowed him to see even the smallest movement. I decided to wait for him to attack me, but in a tree, since he had either masked his chakra or gone under ground, or both. Then, entirely without moving, I started to summon all the water in the air I could and gather it around my perch in the tree, the result wasn't a fog, but just a small, almost undetectable, cloud of increased humidity around me.

I decided that he was actually waiting for me to drop my guard, so I did, or at least I made it look like I did. I visibly relaxed and closed my eyes, while sensing out with all the water in the area to see where exactly he was. Since humans are actually 70 percent water, if I could find a particularly dense (preferably human shaped) spot of water, there was a pretty good chance that was him. One of the most useful things about that was that clones, unless they're water clones, didn't have any water in them, and if they were water clones they actually were 100 percent water, and thus easily distinguishable from the original.

After about ten seconds, I found him at the same time he decided that was long enough to wait. As he was charging at me I became distracted by fourteen other chakras suddenly appearing, which resulted in me getting a fist in my face and falling out of the tree. They stopped in a circle around us, as if we didn't know they were there and Itachi looked confused as to why I didn't dodge the attack but he only stopped breifly in which time I saw him give me a small nod that I took as a, "I sense them too" nod and then he continued to charge at me but slightly more clumsily then before which meant that we were going to pretend they weren't there until we decided to attack them. We fake fought for a bit then jumped back at each other and I started to make about fourteen ice kunai float around me that looked like they were for Itachi. When he started to come at me again, this time with shuriken in his hand I knew he was thinking like me (AN: shuriken aren't for close combat and they were charging at each other). When we got about two feet away from each other we both fired off our respective weapons at the people which caused them to move or die (they all moved but three died anyway). We didn't stop charging we just both turned and went for the people in the bushes. We were both taking on about five (so much fighting, can't be sure) and all of mine had at least one frozen limb and one had colapsed from frozen internal organs.

We had both ticked off one or two and sustained a few injuries when Itachi suddenly fell to the ground. I started to run over to protect his unconscious form but, seeing their chance to get me, I was poked with something and the next thing I knew everything was dark.

When I awoke I was in this cell with all of my chakra slowly being drained by what seemed to be the bars of the cell. Unlike most shinobi, I can't die from chakra exhaustion alone. You see, my water abilities don't use my chakra, they use another energy source and when this becomes entirely depleted I will die in a fashion similar to chakra exhaustion. So, while this cell would not kill me, it could very easily kill Itachi. 

(1) - official explanation of the almighty kitchen: hallway from bedroom goes to kitchen. Kitchen has a bar that looks into the front room and if you turn left from the hallway you look right at the stove at the end of the room. The microwave, sink, refrigerator/ cabinets, and extra counter space are on the left and the bar is on the right. There is one stool at the end of the bar, where you enter from the hallway, and there are three on the side with the front room. Hopefully this is a little useful, I was trying to show you guys the image that's in my head when I picture the kitchen. I'm sorry if it changes and I just don't notice. If you guys like this or have any questions about other rooms/ hallways I'll try to get them in next time I update.

(2) - ¡¡¡VIVA EL QUESO!!! (if you know what this means, give yourself a pat on the back)

This chapter was posted on 2-11-07.


	11. Chapter 11 Edited

**AN (after edit): ok, all I changed was the actual Spanish, so if you couldn't read it before I have serious doubts about you noticing that. Also I changed some of the dialouge in Uo's interrogation, it's not that important though because the result of the interview is still the same, it just changes Uo's character a little.**

AN: Ok, this chapter is a little short but I felt it was an ok place to cut it off. I couldn't work on this chapter very often this week because I got this lovely cold that is mostly gone, but it's still managing to give me a headache right now. But hey, this is faster than my last update! Also, I didn't feel like reading it through again, so I'm sorry if it's random or disconnected in places, that is entirely my fault.

I just realized I skipped the disclaimer in the last chapter, but if you honestly believe that I own Naruto, or just about anything else for that matter, you must be more crazy (yes I realize that I should have just said crazier, but I didn't want to!) than me! So, just to clarify things, I do NOT own Naruto, I do NOT own this computer, but I DO own Uo, so deal with it.

Just one more random thing: Last weekend I went thrift store shopping with my mom and I got a ten year old Japanese dictionary, just so we all know, Uo means fish, I haven't made up any other names with actual meanings to them. Now, on to the story!

Chapter 11

Recap: When I awoke I was in this cell with all of my chakra slowly being drained by what seemed to be the bars of the cell. Unlike most shinobi, I can't die from chakra exhaustion alone. You see, my water abilities don't use my chakra, they use another energy source and when this becomes entirely depleted I will die in a fashion similar to chakra exhaustion. So, while this cell would not kill me, it could very easily kill Itachi.

While I was getting a good look at my small cell I suddenly heard someone outside of the cell.

"¡¿Quién es él?!"a man yelled. (1)

Another answered in a scared voice, "Lo siento señor, pero él fue con Itachi. No lo pudimos salir." I tried harder to understand when I heard Itachi's name but it seemed like they were talking in another language or something.

There was silence for a minute as the obviously dominant one sighed and was probably thinking, "Ok, " it seemed like they might be switching back to an understandable language, "así¿por qué está aquí?" or not.

"Vimos su talentos, es muy fuerte. Este sala nos ayuda con él."

"Ah, puedes pensar. ¿Dondé está Itachi?"

"Adentro de la sala a lado de suya."

"¡¡¡Idiota!!!" Then he storms off and I see him and his minion pass my cell. As they pass the one next to mine I hear something move. As soon as I hear them leave I try to speak, at first nothing comes out. "I-Itachi!" I yell trying to see if he's in here or alive.

I hear the person in the cell next to mine on the right shift again and then I hear a feeble, "Uo?" Thank the gods he's alive, "Uo, I think I'm dying..." shit.

I reply while trying to gather enough strength to use my water, "Itachi, you have to stay as far away from those bars as you can, they're chakra draining bars." I may not be able to die from chakra exhaustion but it still is very, well, exhausting. I continue to try gathering water while saying, "How do those men know you?" I care about this but the question is more to make sure he stays conscious.

"I- I think that they're from the Atsutaki. They might know him." kami, he sounds so weak.

"If they thought you were him though, they wouldn't have locked you in a cell."

"True..." he sighs and then there's a small sound that sounds like someone just collapsed.

"Itachi?" No response, "Itachi?!?" Fuck, I gather as much water as I can and then seep it into a circle about a foot wide in the mud brick wall. Once I think it's seeped through enough I freeze it (AN: to explain my thinking, we all know that water expands when it freezes, so freezing this wall would weaken it by loosening it.) then I melt the water and make it all come out of the wall as mud. The wall was pretty much mud at this point so I could just use the rest of the water to clear out a hole. I looked through it and saw Itachi passed out on the floor.

I tried to get through the hole as quickly as I could, but the exhaustion made it very difficult to move. I crawled over to Itachi and checked his pulse, he was alive, but almost completely drained of his chakra. I used one of the medical jutsus I knew to give him a little of my chakra and before I could see if it worked I heard the men coming back in.

I scrambled back into my cell and tried to look like I was still asleep while I was evening and lengthening my breaths (thank you obsessive ninja training). Unfortunately I forgot one very important detail, I left the whole in the wall. I decided that it was so dark in the cell that I'd have to take the chance because I knew that the effort couldn't be done in any decent amount of time.

The subordinate said, "Oye¡Mira¡Piensa no podemos ver que despierta!"(2) I still don't get what they're saying but it doesn't seem like they know that I'm awake. "Get up, we know you're awake." Or not.

"I may be awake but I really can't move. I could die from chakra exhaustion." Well, now that I've been caught in one lie lets try another.

"Bullshit, you made a hole in the wall and you gave some of your chakra to him."

"So, I value his life over my own, haven't you ever met shinobi before?" I said weakly; at this point I was just trying to make sure that he couldn't tell I had a second energy source.

"How about you come with us or we kill your 'friend' over there?" The man said without actually saying it like a question.

I slowly got up and started to shakily walk towards the bars, but they drained all my strength by the third step. "I can't move anymore unless you deactivate the bars." (3)

I see a second figure move behind the subordinate and then I feel the bars loose their effects. I walk towards the men and they open a door in the bars then they place a blind fold and handcuffs on me. They lead me to some other place and I'm sat down in a chair before they strap me up to it and take off the blind fold.

"Just how much do you know about Itachi?" They ask after they have me all situated and comfy (note the sarcasm).

"My friend's name is Ryonime, who's Itachi?" I ask/reply with a fake ignorant look on my face.

They give each other a look and then the one who was subordinate to the big one but is obviously superior to the new minion slaps me and then says, "Don't play dumb, baka. Though you obviously don't know much about the real Uchiha Itachi, since you're protecting him." They sparked my interest by saying the real Itachi, but they could just be talking about the fake once he's dropped his facade.

"I still don't know this 'Itachi' you're talking about." I say deciding to still play dumb.

"That much is obvious." Yay, they bought it! "Itachi is part of a group called the Atsutaki, they infiltrate villages and then systematically destroy them. We're part of a group that has infiltrated the Atsutaki and tries to prevent the attacks by either killing the member or, when we are incapable of killing them, simply showing everyone their true identity, thus forcing them to flee or die by that village's shinobi. Itachi is a missing nin from Konoha village in the fire country and his death toll over the last six years is, to say the least, astounding. He tends to gain the trust of one person and using them to get info on the village. He hands the info over to his superiors and then leaves in the mist of the attacks, thus making his trusted person and the village think he died in the attacks. Itachi, or 'Ryomine,' has died a total of eleven times in the last six years." I pretend to be shocked at this. "You probably don't believe us but we will not let him, or you, just go."

"Well, if you don't let me go, my village will come looking for me since I'm in ANBU and after four days I'm considered a missing nin. And Ryonime, while he isn't a citizen of Kiro, he is in their record books as a traveler and it's their governmental duty to protect him." I finished my little tirade with a tired look on my face.

He smiled and replied, "You don't believe us but I'd take a bet that you're dating your 'Ryonime' back there in that room." At the bit of my surprise that leaked through my look, but he seemed not to notice as he continued, "He usually gets the one person to trust him by seducing them so their emotions make their judgment unstable and undependable. That person usually has some ties to the government so they can get info on the village, but there were two cases where he just did it by stealing the info on his own. He's a very good actor, all the previous trusted persons, at least the ones who lived through the encounter, said that he had at least one mental breakdown while with them and they say he feels remorse for leaving his brother. Now, lets hear what this 'Ryonime' has said about his life to you."

Here's my new dilemma; this story makes too much sense. It not only makes sense for the case against Itachi, it makes sense in the story Itachi told me. The man seeing my indecisiveness, starts to talk again, "If you don't tell us everything you not only risk the welfare of your village, but you risk being tried as a traitor in your village. Think very carefully about the next thing that comes out of your mouth."

"Fine, I'll tell you everything Itachi has told me, but only on two conditions." I stopped to see if this was going to get me killed, didn't look like it so I decided it was safe to keep going, "One, I want to know what you've already done to my Itachi, two, I want to know everything about his past in Konoha, about Atsutaki, and about Sasuke, and three, I want you to let us go back into the village." They looked like they might have agreed on the conditions until I got to last one so it was obvious that I needed to elaborate, or they might just kill us now, "You could keep close watch on both of us, keeping in mind that we both are, or have been, ANBU nin, and you're stalking of us needs to be incredibly discrete or Itachi might think you're someone else and try to kill you. I could stop taking missions outside of the city, if you really don't trust me that much, but I'd prefer if you didn't because that would put a big strain on my budget. Any other problems?"

He appeared to think for a minute before saying, "I agree to your conditions, even though I could very easily beat the information out of you, but I have to go get my boss to see if he'll go for it." My thoughts go like this before he leaves, 'First of all, no, you could not beat this out of me, and second what the hell are you waiting for, go get your freaking boss!' but my face remains impassive as ever. About thirty seconds later he looks at the subordinate and nods before leaving to go get the decision that could easily decide if we live or die.

(1) My Spanish isn't great, it's my second language and I rarely use it outside of class. I'm sorry if anyone who actually speaks Spanish is offended. The main point of sticking a foreign language in there was to have almost no one understand... I probably should have just wrote nonsense words and stuck "Itachi" in there about five times, but I was bored and I'm geek, get over it. Ok, now translations:

"Who is he?"

"I'm sorry Mr., but he was with Itachi, we couldn't leave him."

"Ok, so why is he here?"

"We saw his talents, he's very strong. This cell (actually says room) helps us with him."

"Ah, so you can think. Where's Itachi?"

"In the cell (actually says room) next to his."

"Idiot!!!"

(2) Translation: "Hey, look! He thinks we can't see that he's awake."

(3) Ok, explanation of chakra sucking bars: a jutsu is placed on an object that lets said object absorb a certain person's chakra. Only the person who places the justu can lift it; yes I made them up.

This chapter was posted on 2-19-07.


	12. Chapter 12 finally finished

AN: I'm back! Huge apologies to whomever actually still cares (I know there's very few of you left, not that there were many to start with)!!! No excuses; I just didn't feel like writing. But I finally found out what helps me feel like writing; MUSIC!!! Music is to me with my writing like coffee is to my mom (a proud coffee addict). The point is that I should be writing more from now on; the fact that it's summer helps with this. Now on to the chapter!!! (The authoress goes of leading a battle charge somewhere; the evil knome monkeys drag her back so she can do her disclaimer that almost (ALMOST) forgot to do.)

Disclamer: I own nothing, but I'm trying to figure out a way to get my own computer! Actually, I own two evil knome monkeys! Ok, now; CHARGE!!!!!

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Recap: About thirty seconds later he looks at the subordinate and nods before leaving to go get the decision that could easily decide if we live or die.

The first thing running through my head after he left was, 'Ok, now how to get out of here alive.' and I started to plan an escape route. After a little of that I realized that not only would it be difficult to actually escape while carrying a passed-out and weakened Itachi on my back, I also didn't know just where we were or how many guards were there to stop us; another thing was that I really didn't want to have to run from some nameless group for the rest of my natural life, it just didn't sound like fun. The real thing that really made wait for him to come was that I really wanted to get the information he was offering about Itachi, not that I was doubting Itachi (really I wasn't... well maybe a little), I just wanted to know what this double was up to. Shortly after deciding this the man I had talked to before and the first one from the prison came back. 

They stood there in silence until I finally said, "So..."

The dominant one from the prison cleared his throat and said, "Unosuke-san, we have decided to accept your conditions, with a certain alteration. Now tell us everything 'Your' Itachi has told you about himself."

I proceeded to tell him what I knew about Itachi (except for the exact reason for leaving Konoha; I said "traumatizing experience") after briefly wondering how he knew my name.

He nodded when I was done and then said, "Our records say that Itachi did leave Konoha roughly six years ago he did slaughter his family, but before leaving he used the mangekyou sharingan on his little brother. As I'm sure you know, as a blood-line trait holder yourself, this is only possible if you have the blood. Thus it is physically impossible that a person that isn't a direct relative of the main family to have done this. Also we found all of the Uchiha clan's bodies, except for Sasuke, who is alive, and Itachi, who had to flee."

Oh, shit. He would have mentioned if the guy was a family member but unless he was a secret child of his mom or someone in the main branch, which would be difficult to keep under wraps given that most villages treat their gifted like minor celebrities, the government in the village would have definitely recorded it.

I managed to keep my freak-out solely internal thus keeping my face impassive. His face showed his disappointment, but, regardless of how he felt, he pulled out a file from behind his back and say, "Here is all the information you asked for on both Itachi and Sasuke in written form. Oh, and we only asked Itachi a few questions, and used minimal prodding to try getting answers; he gave us the story he gave you. Are you sure you still want to live with him?" I nod slowly; I'm going to have as much faith in him as humanly possible at this point; if he can give me a good reason as to why the guy could use the sharingan too, then I'll just call that a brief lapse of faith. "Ok, the alteration to this arrangement is that were telling the village government that Itachi is there as a newly released criminal, that may or may not be mentally stable, of course, we will tell the, this under the condition that the general public is not told, be under some other name and it's your choice whether or not you continue to publicly date him, as it will probably cause the other shinobi to look down upon you."

I nodded, almost back to normal by now (returning from my small episode), and asked, "So can I go home now?"

He nods and while the subordinate is undoing the ties and ropes and other clamps on this chair they have me hooked into I see the main guy in the room give me an almost admiring look; at least it isn't pity of the stupid look. If I was him, I'd probably be giving me the stupid look. Anyway, they walk me back to Itachi's cell and this time I'm not blindfolded. When we get there I see Itachi and... well he's alive, that's all that really matters, right? I pick up Itachi after quickly checking his vitals and deciding that all he really needs a lot of rest. The main nin escorts me back to the village; I assume it's for two reasons; one, he needs to talk to the hokage and, two, he needs to make sure we don't just run away. We get an odd look at the gate (I'm still carrying Itachi bride style) but the guy pulls some kind of a coin out of his pocket and does some finger trick with it and we're in. We split directly after that and I walk home to drop Itachi off before going to check in with Zou for missing at least a bit of training (it's about noon now). I get a little scared when I'm walking into the ANBU complex because the guard looks shocked before getting a sadistic smirk on his face. The feeling only gets worse when every person I walk past seems to get the same look. I finally get to Gale and she literally jumps out of her seat with a squeal to hug me.

"What happened? Where'd you go? When'd you get back? We checked your appartment. Nami said you'd gone to train with a friend. Couldn't find any info on the friend. We thought you died. We were so worried, don't ever do that again. Where'd you go?" Yeah, all that in roughly three seconds; amazing the vocal powers of women.

I broke out of the hug and held her shoulders while saying, "I did go into the forest to train with a friend, we got kidnapped, no big deal, I'm back." yeah, I hadn't exactly worked out a clear story of absence yet. Then I realized something, "Since your part of ANBU you'll be told soon."

She looked confused for a bit and then got a smile not entirely dissimilar to the previous ones before saying, "Oh, just so you know, Zou's not going to be nearly as happy as I am about seeing you." Ok, now I understood the evil looks I'd been getting; people really wanted to see someone get their ass kicked. I thought about running home to sleep off my 'traumatic experience.' "I hope you realize that by running you'll only get you'll only being putting off the inevitable." Damn women and their mind reading powers.

"Where is she now?" insert grimace.

Stop smiling dammit, "Down the hall, third door on the right; good luck."

I briefly smile in thanks and then move forward to my doom.

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Sorry it's short.

This chapter was posted again on 6-22-07.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: ok, this chapter is not edited, but I added a little part that was just way to short to be an entirely seperate chapter. Sorry for making it look like there was going to be a lemon where I left off, there never was going to one this soon (doesn't feel right). Also, I'm probably going to move up the rating (after looking at the rating guide) simply because of all the cursing I tend to use and not notice. Sorry if it offends anyone (though I doubt anyone reads this). I probably should do a warning and disclaimer this time too...**

**Warning: This chapter contains a wee bit of slash (aka, man on man or yaoi), one or two badly written speeches, lots of cursing, and more angst than before. Also, it may offend those with manic-depressive disorder because I really don't know how to correctly portray it. I apologise if any of this offends anyone and I am totally fine with you telling me if it does, because there's a good chance it will help.**

**Disclaimer: I own Uo and Nami and Zou and Gale. However, I do not own Naruto (the series), Itachi, the computer I'm writing this on, my dogs, this chair, the sky, the house, any substantial amount of money (nor do I make a profit from this), or a number of things I don't care to remember right now.**

**(original) **AN: Ok, so it's pretty much official at this point, I suck at updating. Either way, please review, it helps. Also, I have the most horrible work ethic in the world and I really only type when I feel like it so the updates should be more frequent then one chapter every one and a half to two monthes from now on... hopefully.

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Recap: Stop smiling dammit, "Down the hall, third door on the right; good luck."

I walk into this door and see something I wasn't expecting; Zou sitting on the floor in a meditation pose. I considered clearing my throat but I didn't get the chance to because something pushed me from behind and immediately slammed the door. I turned to see what it was and saw nothing. 

"It's called Chakra Manipulation."

I turned around surprised that Zou had woken up and that she wasn't pounding me... yet. She opened her eyes and slowly stood up; I was still tense because frankly, I did not feel like dying today. Again in the mysteriously calm voice, "I'm not going to hurt you. I can tell you're physically exhausted and I don't even want to know why your chakra levels are so low." She was unusually calm and that scared me... a lot. "Don't look at me like that; I do know how to control my emotions, unlike most of the women you know. I expect you back here at six tomorrow morning with a full explanation for me."

"Understood." I replied before turning to leave. I debated whether or not to try to do a transportation jutsu to get home; Zou was right, I was low on chakra, but I was thinking that I have enough to do one little jutsu(1). I walked out the room and decided to just blow all caution to the wind, (I know, stupid for a highly trained nin, but, you know what, I was fucking tired.) I made the hand signs and it was a good thing that I'm just o-so-good at aiming this jutsu because as soon as I reappeared at home I collapsed on to my bed out cold.

-------time-lapse-------

I woke up cold. Why, you ask? Well I didn't have my wonderful space heater (aka Itachi) and thus I was cold. I slowly got up, finally managed to drag my sorry ass into the kitchen to see Itachi sitting there with a cup of coffee in his hand and he seemed to be focusing on the clock in the microwave really hard.

"Good morning." He looked up shocked and then looked me over. I was not that great of a sight right now; I _really_ needed a shower, I had been wearing the same clothes for the last two days, I had jumped through mud in said clothes and I had both fought and trained in those clothes. Add in the injuries I got from our capture and you got one thing; me looking like shit (almost literally).

After scanning me he asked, "What the hell happened yesterday?"

"You remember going to train yes?" He nods, "Do you remember getting ambushed?" Again he nods, "You got knocked out and I tried to protect you and I got knocked out, too. After that, they proceeded to interrogate you then me sometime later and I worked out a deal that got our freedom and I carried you home."

He has an indifferent mask on his face and I can tell he's thinking very hard about something, obviously something he doesn't want me to know about. I was just about to ask him what's up and he says, "I put you in danger, you got hurt."

"I didn't get hurt." I say trying to stop what I knew was coming.

His mask shatters as he angrily replies, "Don't lie to me! I can sense that you're still tired and you look like you've been through hell and back. Obviously you were absolutely exhausted before since you're still in the clothes you wore when we got caught meaning you collapsed into bed! So don't even try to tell me you're not hurt, because anyone with eyes could see that you are!" I just sat there shocked, because Itachi had been, for the most part, calm since I'd known him (other than when he was breaking down).

Still angry he gets up from the bar and goes into our room and I follow calmly after. I see him putting on his many, many weapons on and packing his belongings back into a travel bag. I take the bag from him gently, a little surprised that he just lets me without putting up a fight at all, and place it on the bed. I take his shoulders and stare him straight in the eyes as I say, "Why are you doing this?"

He replies, in a tone amazingly similar to mine, "Because I'm not worth it."

"Worth what?"

"This, I'm not worth getting hurt over or living in fear or getting randomly attacked or worrying about whether I'm a crazy person or not. Everyone I know seems to end up getting hurt, I won't put you through it; I'm just not worth it."

"Yes, you are. You are not crazy, I don't live in fear, I'm not hurt, and I always run the risk of getting attacked. I am Kaname Unosuke. I am a highly trained Ninja, this is my life and it is entirely my choice who I trust and who I get hurt for. The most important thing here is that you know, _I can take it._" He had been getting closer to crying as I was giving my little speech and at that point he collapsed in my arms. I slowly took him over to the bed as I started to rub his back in what I hoped was a comforting manner.

As his breathing slowed down and the crying gradually stopped he looked up at me through watery eyes and asked, "So you're really ok?"

I smiled and replied, "Hai (2), just a little hungry."

He smiled back and gave me a quick kiss before saying, "Good, because I just got the strangest urge to make pancakes." I followed him to the kitchen and helped him make the food in amiable silence They were easily the most delicious pancakes I've ever had, though this may have been because of the massive amounts of chocolate chips in them and the new discovery that peanut butter taste bomb (3) on them, but I'm going to blame the company. I managed to sleep for the rest of the night (I had woke up before at about eleven at night) and Itachi was sound asleep when I left for training the next day.

Gale merely smiled at me the next day (I had long ago given up our little game) and just told me where Zou happened to be; the weight room. This was good, this meant today was just a conditioning day which meant we weren't going to fight which meant I wasn't going to get my ass kicked today.

I walked in and spotted Zou one the weight bench viciously lifting weights that were bigger than her (4). Suddenly I saw her lifting the weights and using them to hit me and me literally flying across the room before hitting the wall and going unconscious. I came out of my wonderful little daydream to see her getting up and picking up the weight in a fashion similar to the daydream. Just to be safe I did a silent henge and hid behind some other weights just in time to see her calmly get up and use the weights to make the henge disappear into a small puddle on the floor.

"UO!" She yelled then went into really calm talking, "You should know better than to try and fool me with a henge. Get out of where ever you're hiding and come tell me what the hell happened to you."

I stood and walked over to her and she stood there obviously waiting for my story. "I was just outside Kiro doing additionaly training with my... friend from the desert and we were ambushed and kidnapped. We negotiated a deal and we were both released."

She just stood there waiting for something more before she seemed to give up and say, "Ok, since you obviously weren't intending to tell me the details of your little deal, I'll tell you what they told me." Oh yeah, I'd forgot that they'd be telling all the higher ups about Itachi. "You weren't just training with a friend; you were training with your boyfriend, don't look shocked, they didn't tell us that, I just guessed. Anyway, they told us that your boyfriend was a known criminal and that his particular history was now not absolutely positive, but to be on guard regardless. What I don't understand is why you would put your self into doubt in the eyes of your village. Do you realize that they asked me to watch over you for any suspicious behavior? Do you realize that most of your missions will now be confined to the city and that you will be under constant surveillance? No, you didn't, you just wanted to protect your boyfriend, WHO YOU'VE KNOWN FOR A GRAND TOTAL OF TWO WEEKS!!!" She finished breathing heavily.

I just stood there in shock for three reasons, one, it was probably the only time she ever blown up at someone since she was a genin, which led to shocker number two, she had to have gone through something similar to have such a strong reaction, and shock number three came from the fact that she was right; I had only known Itachi for two weeks.

Once she clamed down she continued in the serious whisper, "Do you understand how you've endangered yourself and this village? You get that if you're wrong and he actually is this horrible criminal you will be responsible for all the death and destruction that follows? It's not fun, Unosuke, even with all the death we cause, it's never fun to have any innocent death on your hands and conscience."

I couldn't hold my tongue anymore, so against my better judgment I asked, "Who hurt you Zou?"

She appeared shocked but then she obviously put on a mask before replying, "Someone I never should have trusted." Silence for the next thirty seconds. "Why do you trust him?"

I could never seem to properly mask my emotions with Zou, so my shock showed through a little. "I trust him because I have faith in him, my feelings, and my instincts." As opposed to her previous deadly whisper and yelling we were now talking in the sensitive, let's-reveal-our-feelings-and-past whisper.

"Uo, try not to get hurt." Sympathetic glance right before a complete turnaround. Evil sparkle in eye, "Now, it's time we start really training, Nezumi!"

The following scene was edited because of the authoress's inability to describe the horrible nature of this particular workout session. The point is that Zou definitely knows how to whip people into (literally) into shape.

_There is something to be said for crazy women with control._ That was my thought as I walked in the door of my apartment trying to calculate whether or not I had enough cream for sore muscles to treat my self or would I have to send Itachi out to get more.

"Welcome ho- WHAT THE HELL?!?" Itachi greeted me in the hall wearing an apron I had gotten from Nami as a joke to show that she was really ok with me after we broke up. It said, "A wise man once said, ' A man is only as gay as the apron he wears.' I decided he was right." then it had rainbows running through it with black and white hearts and flowers. Needless to say, I love it.

"I'm fine, Zou, just decided that she needed to make up for all that practice I missed. Except she wanted to get it all in today." I finished taking off my shoes and was trying to decide whether I wanted to eat or shower, both of which I needed to do.

Itachi just said, "Well, I'm almost done making dinner so why don't you go get a shower." and silently walked back into the kitchen.

The shower helped a bit with my soreness and woke me up just enough to realize I was starving. I hurried through putting on the sore cream because the smell of whatever Itachi made was driving me insane.

The dinner, though delicious, was an almost silent affair; almost because I would try to make small talk every so often. After dinner I was happy that the sink was actually visible from where I sat because that allowed me to talk to Itachi while washing dishes all without moving from where I was sitting in my exhausted state.

"So, I'll get straight to the point, why are you sulking?"

No change in Itachi's facial expression as he said, "I'm not sulking, I'm perfectly normal." Small smile that would pass for real if I happened to not be a highly trained ninja.

"Ok, so you obviously feel guilty for my poor treatment today and you obviously don't remember our little talk from this morning so I'll just remind you; _I can take it._ I do know why you can't seem to accept that, but how long are you going to let those deaths destroy your life. I get that your whole family is dead and that you blame yourself but, come on, family always forgives each other, even for stupid mistakes that may have cost her her life as long as I learned how not to do it again." At the small confused look in his eyes (the only part of him still showing emotion) I realized what I said and quickly made up for it, "I don't regret knowing you or protecting you or dating you or lo--"

At that point his lips brutally crashed onto mine cutting off my words. As the kiss that shut me up continued to get more heated I somehow found myself on my back with him towering over me and having a lust filled look in his eyes when we had to stop for air.

"Let's go to the bedroom." He said still breathing heavy and flushed. He didn't even wait for an answer before picking me up and taking me there bridal style.

I managed to get a look at him as he was carrying me, which led me to start struggling. Even my lust clouded brain could see that this was not an act of love; he was distracting me by using my emotions.

As I managed to stand up I told him, "That's really insulting." He wasn't listening and tried to pin me against the hallway wall while kissing my neck. I shoved him off, losing my patience, "You're such a dick head!" Ok, so the lust was conflicting with my ability to speak like a mature adult, but I tried to get my point across anyway as I had to keep fighting him off, "I'm not going to get distracted, you can't make me just forget about your problems by fucking me senseless." That seemed to catch his attention, "I'm not some dumb genin, I know exactly what you were trying to accomplish."

A dark look passed over his before his face went back to the impassive mask, "I don't see why you have a problem with that. A second ago you seemed to be oh so caring and sensitive, but you don't _care _enough to just let me fuck you, pound you into the mattress and make you come screaming my name. Why don't you care about how _I_ feel, my _dear_ Uo? Do I repulse you so much that you can't even begin to stomach what it would feel like to have me inside of you, or is it that you want your first time to be with someone you truly _care_ about? Were you not about to say that you didn't regret _loving_ m--"

I slapped him, I can't believe I slapped him. "Get out. Get your manic-depressive cynical ass out of my home before I come to my senses and send you to the rest of the ANBU." He seemed to get over his shock and started to cry, "That won't work on me anymore, why don't you go see if there's someone else out there who _cares_ enough to let themselves be fucked and fucked over by you." He actually collapsed onto the floor in my hallway, his head in his hands, "Dammit, Uchiha, get the fuck out of my home!"

He just curled into a ball and started whimpering as he continued to cry. I started to soften, then I remembered what he had just said before he went all depressed on me again and my resolved hardened. I tiredly informed him, "Uchiha, if you don't leave my home now I can't be held responsible for happens next. I can assure you that you'd be much safer, at least for now, somewhere else."

He looks up and lets just say that there's a good reason tear tracks, puffy eyes, and snot are not in fashion. Anyway, he manages to get out, "I-I'm so s-sorry, Uo-kun," wracking sob and sniffle, "I don't know w-why that h-happens, it used to ha-happen at home too." More sobs, "It-he's not me! Pl-please Uo! He's not me!!!"

I froze, my previous accusations about him being manic-depressive had just been my emotions drawing conclusions based on observations, however, if he had multiple personality disorder then that opened up an entirely new realm of possibility. I decided to take pity on what was possibly an entirely different Itachi, "Ok, you can stay if you answer some questions for me."

Still crying he nodded and then sniffed really hard. I helped him up off the floor and led him to the couch, "Itachi, do you think you have another person in you or is it more that you almost develop into a different person when you get really emotional?"

Still sniffling, he replies, "It's more of the second, but I can't control it at all. I mean, one moment I'm fine, the next I'm feeling so guilty that I start thinking about how to kill myself the fastest, then I get crazy horny, then crazy angry, then depressed again. The last few weeks were really good, I was in a normal mood the whole time, you saw it. I don't know what happened." Yeah, all that in one breath.

Shit, the kidnapping. It threw off the happy balance he had settled into and started up the cycle again. I sighed before saying as gently as possible, "I know a little about psychology and such but I'm no therapist and I certainly don't know anything for sure, but I think you're bipolar, Itachi-kun. I can't help you much, but Nami's a retired ANBU who's specialty was psychiatry. If you're comfortable with it, we could get her to talk to you and help you out. Would you like that?"

He seemed to figure out that I had basically forgiven and had stopped crying, but when I mentioned that I could get Nami to help him he broke out in a huge smile and started to nod with so much energy that I pitied his poor neck. "Yes, yes, I would love that!"

Gosh, you might think he'd just been proposed to, he jumped up and hugged me really tight. "I'll organize it after I'm done tomorrow, ok?" In response he just hugged me tighter, "Can't ... breathe..."

He let me go still go, still smiling, and actually skipped off the bedroom to get ready for bed. I sat a little shocked on the couch before following and going to bed myself.

* * *

(1) Just so we all know, that was sarcasm. The transportation jutsu (at least in my stories) will require a lot of chakra. Uo's just trying to avoid the shocked looks he'll get because he came out of the room unscathed.

(2) Hai is yes

(3) Ok, the reason why I used the word bomb as a positive adjective really is unknown to me. I've been using it when speaking lately (mostly just as a replacement for my other favorite word awesome) and somehow it worked it's way into this story... I went back later and tried to replace it but... well... I just kind of liked it there...

(4) So the weights are the kind where you put whatever amount of weight you want on each side and it has a barbell inbetween.

This chapter was posted on 8-2-07.

**The end part was posted on 8-10-07.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Important Note: If you did not go back and see the update on ch. 13, please do that, THIS CHAP. WILL NOT MAKE SENSE IF YOU DON'T! I added about 800 words to finish that chap and I don't know if if sent out alerts, sorry.**

AN: So that I've established that Itachi is actually crazy in this story, and not just extremely moody, it's just kind of a few chapters (probably) until I get to the scene in my head that this whole story stemmed from... sorry.

Disclaimer: As always, I own absolutely nothing, this time the list of what I don't own includes Star Wars... Damn George I only tried to steal Obi once and that was **after** I offered to buy him, but no, silly man just won't agree to anything... (pouts in corner)

* * *

**Chapter 14**

Recap: Gosh, you might think he'd just been proposed to, he jumped up and hugged me really tight. "I'll organize it after I'm done tomorrow, ok?" In response he just hugged me tighter, "Can't ... breathe..."

He let me go still go, still smiling, and actually skipped off the bedroom to get ready for bed. I sat a little shocked on the couch before following and going to bed myself.

The next day I woke up before Itachi and got my shower, when I got out I was surprised to see a meal made for me (a bagel w/strawberry cream cheese and about seven blueberries, hey, my showers only take ten minutes). Itachi was starting to put the cream cheese on a second bagel for himself when I came in. He blushed and looked down before saying, "It's only the beginning of how I say thanks."

I smiled and replied, "It's great, thank you." He had unknowingly picked my favorite foods.

He blushed and finished with the cream cheese before saying, "You're welcome." in a really small voice. As nice as this mood was it was a little odd having such a shy Itachi after the all the other ones I had met last night.

Before I left he surprised me by giving me a peck on the cheek before putting my mask on for me (Gale specifically told me to wear it after noticing that I didn't have it the two days before) and pushing me out the door.

I found Zou in one of the meditation rooms at the complex, this one with trees and grass, and stepped in.

"You're five minutes early."

I looked at my watch, it said I was right on time, "My watch must be ahead, I apologize."

"Don't, it's a good thing to be early." She opened her eyes and again I felt that invisible shove she had called 'Chakra Manipulation' before. "Today we're going to focus on using chakra in a way similar to the way you use water."

I was about to ask why when she said, "No interrupting, you shouldn't rely so heavily on your blood line abilities, there are ways to stop them and you should try to hide them regardless of the mission. There are people out there that will refuse to help you or your team simply because they fear your abilities. Don't interrupt! Yes, it does sound dumb to look weak to avoid enemies, but that's not what I'm saying; people are undeniably stupid and there are many who feel threatened by those who have abilities they can't even dream about. That, and your ability is a dead give away about where you come from."

"So, what exactly will you have me do today?" I asked really hoping she was going to teach me how to do 'chakra manipulation.'

"Today," she paused for some reason, "gods, stop being so happy, I'm not going to teach you that!" How could she know my thoughts, she can't even see my face??? "I'm not a mind reader, I can tell from your eyes. Like I was saying, today, we're going to focus on using your chakra in a physical form. I can still read your eyes, you're too damn expressive for your own good. Just cut the damn piece of wood, then you can leave."

She tosses a stick on the floor and goes back to meditating, something she obviously needs since she's in such a bad mood today. To my credit I only stood there standing like a confused idiot for .759 seconds before starting to gather my chakra first into my right hand, then, slowly, into my index finger, eventually gathering as much chakra into my finger nail as I could. When I ran my finger over the stick I was surprised to see a tiny little cut on it; I had guessed right on the basic procedure of this!

"Nice job, " Zou said surprising me, "for a poorly trained jounin." Damn her foul moods. "You guessed the basics right but you didn't have your chakra concentrated enough to actually make it work." Makes sense, but that was my first try! "Also, if you were to take that long in a battle you would be very, very dead by now." Back to silent meditation for her now; don't know how she saw the first time given that she never even opened her eyes.

Tried it again, this time with more chakra, which of course was harder, but not any faster since I needed to focus on one thing at a time. The cut was a teensy bit deeper this time but still utterly useless.

"Gosh, is there something that the magic Uo can't do after all." Damn women and their evil magic called sarcasm. "Don't think that this is a useless skill, Nezumi, they are many... practical uses for it. For example, temporary weapons."

She placed her hand in front of her, palm up, and then, slowly, probably just so I could sense the process, concentrated her chakra into her palm and then into the air jsut above her palm. The last step was pretty fast and perfectly timed to when I blinked but when I opened my eyes again I couldn't see any thing there but I could sense an almost solid sword shaped chakra spot. With out a word she grabbed it like a sword and sliced a tree directly behind her.

She snickered at the awe on my face before actually helping me get it so I could actually cut the tiny stick, of course, sinse it was only noon she decided that she didn't mean what she said before after all, so I ended up working on the mini-blade I managed to produce until three when she told me to stop.

"You're low on chakra." I was surprised to find that I actually was, I didn't think it was this draining. "Don't be surprised, even if you still thought this was useless, the second point of doing it was to increase your chakra endurance which is currently pitifully low." She had a point, I guess I may have relied on my blood a bit too much. "Go home, you're exhausted, even if you can't feel it yet. You're dismissed."

"Good day, Zou-sama (1)." I don't know why I just decided to show her more respect... It was probably because she was obviously a good teacher if she could still manage to teach me something successfully while she was obviously in a very _unsociable_ mood. She smiled and waved me out, seemingly happy with my accidental respect.

I didn't go home even though I started to really feel the exhaustion as I went towards Nami's restaurant. As I walked in, I was startled to have a very enthusiastic Itachi catch me off guard, take off my mask, and proceed to give me a _very_ deep kiss. As it continued to get more heated and we started to grope; we froze as we heard, "NO SEX WHERE THE CUSTOMERS CAN SEE IT!!!"

The change in Itachi was almost instant as he let go of me and hung his head as he handed me back my mask as he moved behind me as Mine came storming out of the back. "Good, you're here, take him home to get his shit together or tell him not to bother coming back tomorrow.

I took a quick glance at Itachi to see him looking like he was about to cry. With a sigh I turned around and gently said, "Itachi, could you go to the video store and pick something up for us, I'll catch up after I talk with Mine and Nami, ok?" He gave a weak smile that didn't quite reach his eyes and left.

I turned around to talk to Mine and started out with, "Mine, you can be such a bitch sometimes." At her shocked look, I continued, "Believe it or not, there's a reason for his probably odd behavior today." She put up a skeptical eyebrow but allowed me to continue. "I'll tell you but I need to tell Nami too, so where is she?"

Still looking skeptical she lead me to the back and up the stairs to Nami's private rooms. Banging on the door she yelled, "Ditz, Dodo's(2) here to see us!" Believe me, they're actually affectionate nicknames coming from Mine.

I heard a moan then the door was thrown open and I came face to face with a livid Nami. "DODO! Do you know what it's like when you're best friend suddenly goes missing and his boyfriend comes to work to tell you that, 'hey, you've been back a whole day and you didn't even _think_ to tell me!'?!?" Deep breathing while she struggled to control herself, then I was suddenly getting decked with a hug by a chick in just a tee shirt and underwear. There are times when I start to wish I wasn't so gay...

Of course, after about ten seconds she switched back to original and slapped me (let's keep in mind, she a former ANBU, so, yes, it will bruise if untreated) before helping me up. "I'll tell you what happened if we go to the kitchen to get ice on this." I said while holding my jaw.

In her naturally happy mood again, Nami led the way down the stairs, in all her bra-less glory... one of those moments again... Nami went and got the ice while Mine (who was still looking grumpy) and I sat down on stools in the kitchen.

Ignoring the throbbing in my jaw I asked Mine, "So what exactly happened with Itachi today?" She may be a bitch but it takes a lot for Mine to threaten to fire someone.

She gave me a scornful look, like somehow she blamed me, and answered, "He would bring a plate out, as happy as can be, but when he came back he would be practically crying. Or I would catch him just standing, with a plate of food, staring at the freaking light, and when I asked him what the hell he was doing he'd just say, 'Reminded me of someone.' In short, he was acting like he was on the edge of a mental breakdown all day."

Nami came back at that point to hand me the bag of ice with a towel around it and ask, "Who?"

"Itachi." she responded still with a pissed look.

Nami just hmm'ed and I took the chance to say, "Well, his behavior today has to do with what happened when I was missing." Mine looked curious and Nami had a brief flash of anger before setting a curious look on her face, "We got kidnapped and I was told about his questionable past, but now we're being watched until this whole thing is cleared up. The reason I didn't come to talk was because I ended up getting really crazy with his mental status as well as being completely exhausted." Nami forgave me but Mine just looked _less_ pissed. "Which is really why I'm here today, I need a favor from you Nami." eyebrows raised, sign to keep going, "Can you please give therapy to Itachi? I think he's bi-polar, but I'm no psychiatrist, he could just be really moody and he really needs some form of therapy." Mine got up and went into the main part of the kitchen for some reason.

Nami looked like she was thinking about it before saying, "I guess I could, I'll talk to him tomorrow, before work, about if _he _wants to do this and times. Also, you should know that everything I talk about in session with him I will never tell you. Ok?" I nodded before she continued, "Now go catch up to Itachi before he leaves your sorry ass and heads home without you."

She smiled and Mine came back holding two boxes of something, handing them to me after I got up saying, "Tell him he still has a job." I nodded and said bye to both of them before heading over to the video store.

I got there to see him paying for a video before smiling at me (a genuine one) and following me out. He raised an eyebrow at the boxes in my hand and I said, "Dinner. You still have a job by the way, and Nami's going to talk to you tomorrow about therapy."

I raised an eyebrow at what he was holding and he playfully replied, "you just have to wait til we get home." followed by a childish smile. He's really cute...

"You're so cute." I said patting his head; he scowled but continued to look happy, and when he was happy, I was happy.

We got home and I discovered that his movie was actually the second Star Wars movie; awesome, kudos to him. We ate and then sat together watching the movie cuddled on the couch. When it got to the scene with the pear (one of the most romantic scenes in the movie) (3) he scooted closer and gave me a quick kiss before focusing on the movie again. As the end of the movie came, he looked up and we started to kiss to the theme music. It got more heated and we started to really make out just as the credits ended. I wouldn't have cared but Itachi unattached himself from me and took the dvd out.

Not to pleased about having to stop I scowled playfully at him and he smiled, set the dvd on the coffee table with the food bowls, smiled at me, and gave me a chaste, but sweet, kiss before saying, "Come, love, you need your rest."

I suddenly felt my previous exhaustion again and smiled at him and he smiled back before going to our room. I started to get up before abruptly sitting back down realizing what he just said, he called me love...

* * *

Yep, I'm cutting it off here, cause I'm freaking evil and I can't think of what to make them do the next day... but mostly cause I'm evil. 

(1) As far as I know, you use -sama when talking to a person who's higher in position than you to show respect, correct me if I'm wrong please.

(2)1. extinct bird: a large extinct flightless bird of the pigeon family that once inhabited Mauritius and neighboring islands in the Indian Ocean. The dodo, which was heavyset with short legs and a hooked bill, became extinct in the late 17th century.

2. thoughtless person: somebody regarded as thoughtless or unintelligent (informal insult)

Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

(3) It's been a while since I've seen any of the movies (though I love them) and this scene may have been from the third, if someone happens to know correct me please and I'll fix it in the edit.


	15. Chapter 15

AN: Ok, this is the second to last chapter here. Um, I tried to make sure I didn't have to up the rating but if anyone who happens to read this thinks I need to up the rating, please tell me, I will either up it or edit it. The next chapter will be the last one, it's probably going to be fluffy for the first half and... well the end will be the second half. Regardless, when I actually started this story, I had already written the first chapter of the sequel... it's actually going to be SasuNaru but I haven't decided if I'm going to just be hinting at it or whether I'm going to have it be half in Sasuke's POV. Dunno. Tell me what you think (the like two of you that actually read this).

Disclaimer: I shouldn't have had to do this after chapter one... hopefully nobody flags me for not doing a proper disclaimer this chapter, but, let's face it, if I owned Naruto, would I really be writing this here?

* * *

Chapter 15

Recap: I suddenly felt my previous exhaustion again and smiled at him and he smiled back before going to our room. I started to get up before abruptly sitting back down realizing what he just said, he called me love...

I decided that he didn't really mean it, it was just something that he called people before going to the room to see him already asleep in bed. I chuckled and changed into a pair of old sweat pants before brushing my teeth and climbing into bed too.

Again, I woke up with the warm feeling, instantly glad my space heater was back. I snuggled back into him and was surprised when his arms went tighter around me and then I remembered that I couldn't stay here all day, had to function at least a bit.

I got up, with minimal resistance from sleeping Itachi, and dragged my not sore and, surprisingly, not chakra exhausted ass into the shower. Ten minutes later, I went into the kitchen fully dressed and twenty minutes later I was out the door.

Zou was in a better mood today, meaning she was no longer in an unpleasant mood and was back to being semi-emotionless, good news. We worked on chakra manipulation again and I got a bit better at it, this time able to cut through that tiny little branch on my first try and by six o'clock I was able to make Kunai sized blades.

Walking to Mine's I was a little worried as to how today had gone. My worries were put to rest as I walked in the door, Itachi was bringing a huge tray of food to a family and I decided to take the time to talk to Nami, who was sitting at the bar eating what I assumed to be her dinner.

Sitting down next to her I said, "Hey, are you slacking off missy?"

She finished her bite, smiled, and replied, "You know it!" Still smiling she asked, "So how was practice today, Itachi said you were exhausted last night."

I smiled and said, "Today was similar, but somehow better. Did you start therapy with Itachi?"

Again, finishing a bite, she replied, "Yep, we had a good session, he told me everything about his past and we worked out times and a system."

When she didn't go on I asked, "What are the times, and what system?"

"He has therapy from eight to nine, then work from nine til whenever you get here. The system is for what I'm allowed to tell you, mostly just a vague overview of what we did, and I had him start a journal, he worked in it at lunch, it's something he can decide whether or not to show you."

I thought that idea was interesting and it sounded like we were out of trouble for the moment. "So how was he at work today?"

Her smile briefly fell, "He did ok, he only had one or two instance where he went to the bathrooms for awhile. I didn't talk to him about it because he seemed to be better when he came out."

I nodded then felt Itachi behind me just before he put his arms around my neck and, with his face next to mine, asked, "So, you two over here talkin' 'bout me?"

He was feeling playful, this was good, "Yep, but only bad things, we assure you." I replied with a smile.

He gave me a quick peck on the cheek before saying, "Nami, I'm gonna go home now, ok?"

Nami nodded and we left her to finish her meal in peace.

At home we worked together but in silence to make a simple meal of macaroni and cheese. We sat down on the couch together and watched Jumanji for no apparent reason.

After dinner, and the movie, we actually washed the dishes by hand, this time actually talking. "So, how was today?"

"It was ok. I had a few times where it got bad, I think it was just the kidnapping that threw me off, but Nami's got me back to being mostly stable. How about you, was Zou feeling particularly vindictive today?" He replied, focused on the dish he was drying.

"No, we focused on the same thing we did yesterday, it's not that bad anymore. Did you want to continue with the training, you'd probably be so much better with this than me." I replied. Trying to make eye contact as I handed him a now clean dish.

"I don't think so." No eye contact, but his stature was sad, "It was nice, but I don't think I ever want to fight again. I've decided that I want to learn to cook." He looked up and smiled as he said that.

I smiled back, handing him another dish, "That works for me, I can't really cook, and this way I'm not going to Nami's for all the important meals." I got a funny hard thinking look on my face, "Gee, I guess I'm going to have to get real ingredients for my fridge, not just leftovers and food from a box. Damn." Yay! A giggle!

A fake pensive look from Itachi, "I guess you could, but I've heard that there are some things that, get this, don't," dramatic pause, "go in the fridge."

Melodramatic gasp, "No! My whole way of life has just been changed! you've made me into an enlightened man, Itachi. What would I ever do with out you?" Of course, at that point I wrapped my arms around him in a tight hug, suds and all.

"U-O!" Ah, I love the girly whine, "You're all we-et!" again, seperating the syllables with a whine.

"Ah, 'Tachi-koi(1), is someone feeling left out?!?" I ask, evil plan coming to mind.

Melodramatic scared face, "No! Don't Uo! I'll melt!!!" Which was only encouragement for me to take all the water from the sink and toss it on to his head, this got me wet too, but I like getting wet (perverted grin).

We both collapsed onto the floor at this point, it was just too damn funny! As the laughter eventually died down, we still were lying soaked on the kitchen floor in each other's arms. I couldn't resist it, I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Totally innocent, but it stopped his laughing immediately. I was just starting to regret not having better control over my urges when he flung himself on top of me and gave me a real kiss.

Unfortunately for me, he quickly got off and ran away. Shit, I just can't do anything right. As I'm sitting up and trying to stand, he comes back into the kitchen and sits down next to me and says, "You can read this. So far I just wrote today, but it was when I was feeling bad and I didn't talk to Nami about it. I want to know what you think of me after you read it." Then he just got up and walked away as fast as he had come.

Day One

Nami said, "Just write whatever you feel." well here goes. The reason I'm writing in this stupid thing right now, in the bathroom of Nami's, is because I got scared. A man just walked by and he looks a lot like me. He had a cloak with red clouds on it and was lined in red, but other than that, he looks similar. I honestly thought, for about a second, that this was Sasuke. The good news was that he was just passing the shop, so he didn't see me, but I still don't know if he saw me. As soon as I saw him, I ran here and started crying, I wasn't even sad, the tears just came. Then I started to write and now I'm just angry. I talked to Nami about my past today and she said that the only way I would be free from my paranoia was if I could catch my imposter and prove that he could use Mangekyou. How would I do that? Now, I'm thinking that was probably him. It frustrates me to no end that that bastard is here. What if he kills someone, what if he hurts Uo? I think I might just kill someone if he does that... I swore off killing after what that bastard did to me, at least until I get him back, but I don't think I'll ever kill again, especially since the Mangekyou goes away once your eyes die. Could I kill? Could I trap him and take him back to a villiage if I caught him, without torturing him? Would I do what he did to me, to him? If my moods keep going up and down, yes. If I ever get stable, no. If I stay in here too long, Nami'll come after me... but, that would probably be good... What is it she said today... "When all the bad things start to bring me down, focus on the good." Ok, good things, therapy, finally getting therapy! Two, people who care about me now, Nami, Mine (even if she is a psycho), and Uo. How do I feel about Uo? Would I be able to leave him to go get the other me...

Day One (Part two)

he Great, so now we know why he was so scared and sad after what he had so appropriately dubbed, "that time." I have to find him... I can't believe that I feel the same way about him, it makes no sense what so ever, but I do... Even with all this shit, I loved the last three weeks... 

I went around the appartment and finally found him in the last place I would have expected, the bed. He was just sitting there curled up in a little ball crying. I walked over to him and said, "I love you."

He looked up, obviously shocked, tears was no longer a good look for him, "R-really. You're n-not just saying that because you're sc-scared for me? You honestly love me?"

I smiled and wiped up his tears with my thumb, "Yes, Itachi, I love you more than a person really should for only knowing them for four weeks or so. I love you despite your shady past and uncontrollable emotions. I love you even when you're crying, but especially when I can make you stop. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone and I'm not about to just let you go."

He smiled and I knew it was going to be ok now, so I said, "C'mon, let's get you cleaned up." We were both still soaked and now he had tear stains and some snot coming out of his nose, so I decided that we both needed a bath. We went into the bathroom and I started the hot water while finding some tissue because _someone_ (who shall remain nameless) needed to blow his nose, which he did very loudly. I laughed and started to take off his t-shirt (actually one of mine). He got stiff real fast and said, "What are you doing?"

I smiled gently and replied, "You need a bath, I would like to take one with you, but if you're uncomfortable with that, I'll just go to sleep and take a shower in the morning."

Itachi blushed cutely and looked down saying, "You can take a bath with me." he looked up and smiled at me, "It would be a shame to waste all this water."

I smiled back and took off my own shirt and pants before getting into the now full, rather large, tub with my boxers still on. He followed my example and sat next to my feet. I took off my boxers and, as he followed suit, I started to put shampoo in my hair. He surprised me by grabbing my arm, dragging me over to were he was, and rubbing the shampoo in for me. It was easily one of the most sensual things I had ever felt but I tried to ignore what that part of me was saying as I returned the favor and we finished the bath. Unfortunately, the towels were just out of reach, I could have just went to go get them, but then I wouldn't have had the chance to see Itachi's bum, and what a bum it was. funnily he seemed to have the same problem as me, except he seemed not to be shy as he gave into my puppy dog look and just got up and got the towels. Well, after figuring out that he seemed to be in the same manner that I was, I basically decided to throw all caution to the wind and jumped on him. Not my best idea considering that I may be light, but I'm not _that_ light and we were standing in a huge puddle. Regardless, we some how ended up on the bed where we eventually got to sleep. Not at all knowing what the day after tomorrow would have in store for us.

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(1) koi as a suffix (as far as I know) is like calling someone love.

This chapter posted 8-27-07.


	16. Sorry note

I decided to finish this story a while back but I didn't know where I left off so I started to re-read it and realized just how bad my writing used to be. As a result I've decided that I will re-write the whole thing (probably altering the plot and re-organizing my thoughts) and then just change out all the chapters one day.

To Summarize the main points:

1. This story is officially on HIATUS now.

2. I will be re-writing it.

3. Thank you to anyone who put me on alert for this story or who has ever reviewed this story (HK keiji, AkaiOkami, nebulaX, and psalmofsummer that means you).

4. I'm so so so sorry.

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**(little bitty story I'm putting here so I don't get cited for posting a chapter that has no story. PS I don't own or endorse walmart and make no money off of this!)**

Sally had a feeling that her mother never really listened to her needs, she decided to test her theory.

"Mom, I need bread!"

"Go to walmart!"

"Mom, I need pencils!"

"Go to walmart!"

"Mom, I need new shoes!"

"Go to walmart!"

"Mom, I need soap!"

"Go to walmart!"

Then came the crucial part of the test.

"Mom I need a boyfriend!"

"Go to walmart!"

Sally was surprised at just how little her mother listened to her and was going to confront her about it, but upon not hearing the door slam after her response her mother continued on her statement.

"You have to put them on layaway, but they will come in three to six weeks."

Sally's jaw dropped, but she went to walmart and discovered something she'll never forget:

Walmart really does have everything.

(And then the authoress realized that she had to somehow relate this to her story so...)

Upon Sally's realization the camara zoomed out just a bit and Naruto ran across the screen to tackle her and say, "BELIEVE IT!"

-FIN-

(Again so so sorry)


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